Secondary Theatre Education and
Design and Theatre Technology
UNH Magazine Winter 2022
look back
on the last
four years
Secondary Theatre Education and
Design and Theatre Technology
Contents
ON THE COVER:
Departments
The View From T-Hall
ith each issue of UNH Magazine, we’re proud to bring you compelling stories, offering enlightening, inspiring and even surprising experiences and insights from across our community.
We’ve highlighted three among this issue’s features, including the story of David Richman, professor of theater. He is among our most accomplished faculty members, having taught, researched and directed performances that have entertained and enlightened audiences at UNH for 24 years. You’ll also read how members of the Class of 2022 have weathered a pandemic-influenced college experience, and you’ll see the stories of the remarkable impact of UNH researchers.
Keep scrolling, and you will find yourself in the Class Notes section, where you can catch up on your classmates and start making plans to connect at Reunion or Homecoming. But I also encourage you to read further, through this issue’s entire Class Notes. You’ll find stories of alumni of all ages who are nurturing lifelong friendships that began here, who are building community where they live. You’ll meet inspiring Wildcats who define the goodness that UNH shares with the world across generations. Here are just a few examples:
ith each issue of UNH Magazine, we’re proud to bring you compelling stories, offering enlightening, inspiring and even surprising experiences and insights from across our community.
We’ve highlighted three among this issue’s features, including the story of David Richman, professor of theater. He is among our most accomplished faculty members, having taught, researched and directed performances that have entertained and enlightened audiences at UNH for 24 years. You’ll also read how members of the Class of 2022 have weathered a pandemic-influenced college experience, and you’ll see the stories of the remarkable impact of UNH researchers.
Keep scrolling, and you will find yourself in the Class Notes section, where you can catch up on your classmates and start making plans to connect at Reunion or Homecoming. But I also encourage you to read further, through this issue’s entire Class Notes. You’ll find stories of alumni of all ages who are nurturing lifelong friendships that began here, who are building community where they live. You’ll meet inspiring Wildcats who define the goodness that UNH shares with the world across generations. Here are just a few examples:
Michelle Morrissey ’97
Interim Assistant Editor
Jim Graham
Class Notes Editor
Allison Battles ’02
Writers
Benjamin Gleisser
Karin Hammond ’64
Rebecca Irelan
Krysten Godfrey Maddocks ’96
Michelle Morrissey ’97
Beth Potier
Keith Testa
Jim Graham
Photographers
Jeremy Gasowski
Scott Ripley
David Vogt
Copy Editors
Jim Graham
Monica Hamilton
Beth Potier
Content Contributors
Callie Carr
Susan Dumais ’88, ’02G
Ali Goldstein
Robbin Ray ’82
Cover Design
Lilly Pereira
aldeia.design.com
UNH Magazine
c/o Michelle Morrissey ’97
Elliott Alumni Center
9 Edgewood Road, Durham, NH 03824
alumni.editor@unh.edu
Publication Board of Directors
James W. Dean Jr.
President, University of New Hampshire
Debbie Dutton
Vice President, Advancement
Mica Stark ’96
Associate Vice President,
Communications and Public Affairs
Susan Entz ’08G
Associate Vice President, Alumni Association
Bridget Stewart ’96
President, UNH Alumni Association
© 2022, University of New Hampshire. Readers may send feedback, news items and email address changes to alumni.editor@unh.edu.
Michelle Morrissey ’97
Interim Assistant Editor
Jim Graham
Class Notes Editor
Allison Battles ’02
Writers
Benjamin Gleisser
Karin Hammond ’64
Rebecca Irelan
Krysten Godfrey Maddocks ’96
Michelle Morrissey ’97
Beth Potier
Keith Testa
Jim Graham
Photographers
Jeremy Gasowski
Scott Ripley
David Vogt
Copy Editors
Jim Graham
Monica Hamilton
Beth Potier
Content Contributors
Callie Carr
Susan Dumais ’88, ’02G
Ali Goldstein
Robbin Ray ’82
Cover Design
Lilly Pereira
aldeia.design.com
Mailing Address:
UNH Magazine
c/o Michelle Morrissey ’97
Elliott Alumni Center
9 Edgewood Road, Durham, NH 03824
alumni.editor@unh.edu
Publication Board of Directors
James W. Dean Jr.
President, University of New Hampshire
Debbie Dutton
Vice President, Advancement
Mica Stark ’96
Associate Vice President,
Communications and Public Affairs
Susan Entz ’08G
Associate Vice President, Alumni Association
Bridget Stewart ’96
President, UNH Alumni Association
© 2022, University of New Hampshire. Readers may send feedback, news items and email address changes to alumni.editor@unh.edu.
A July 1919 Boston Globe article notes that women attended the school to “learn men’s grand old game of politics.”
A Place in Suffragist History
historical marker in Murkland Courtyard will serve as a permanent reminder of UNH’s unique role in women earning the right to vote in America. “Markers nudge us to recall, and to reflect on, the significant debt current generations owe to the transformative actions and grit of those who have treaded the path before us,” said College of Liberal Arts Dean Michele Dillon at a November dedication ceremony. “This marker is particularly special because it commemorates a major moment in the ongoing march toward women’s full equality.”
Granite State College, UNH Manchester joining forces
ranite State College and the UNH Manchester campus will combine their complementary missions under a merger plan approved in July by the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) board of trustees, creating a single, merged college in the Manchester-Concord corridor.
Following work with state legislators and accreditors, the merger is intended to create a college within UNH that will retain the Granite State College name. A second initiative will combine GSC and UNH online learning enterprises to strengthen, promote and expand online education for all USNH institutions.
Current
Stop ‘doom scrolling’ and do this 10 minutes a day instead, says UNH prof
ven against the challenges brought on the global pandemic of COVID-19, mindful meditation is still the stress-busting salve for many. So says UNH Professor Caitlin Mills and a team of fellow academic researchers, who shared their findings in an article published in The Conversation online last August. Scholarly and medical studies abound on how the COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on us mentally, and how reading a news article, doom-scrolling through your social media (being sucked in by reading story after story about sad or depressing news), or even just talking to a friend about the latest updates on the virus can increase anxiety and depression.
And while many of the adult population turned to alcohol or food for comfort in these past 20 months, Mills and her peers say the tried-and-true practice of mindful meditation might be a better option.
What is mindfulness, exactly? Technically, it’s a mental state focusing on your present moment. Mindfulness meditation then, is using meditative practices to get to that state of mind.
Presidential Appointees
ichael Swack, faculty member at UNH’s Carsey School of Public Policy and Paul College of Business and Economics, and director of the Carsey School’s Center for Impact Finance, was recently appointed by President Joe Biden to the U.S. Community Development Advisory Board. Swack was one of nine members named to the board, which advises the director of the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.
The CDFI Fund focuses on encouraging economic growth and opportunity in distressed and underserved communities by investing federal dollars alongside private capital.
Gone too soon
he Durham community mourned the loss of a young Wildcat just before the winter break: Vincenzo “Vinny” Lirosi ’24, from Whitman, Massachusetts, had been the subject of a weekend-long search and rescue effort after his friends reported him missing in the early morning hours of Dec. 5. He was eventually found deceased that Sunday afternoon in a marshy area in Durham, due to accidental drowning.
An online fundraiser was set up soon after to raise $5,000 to cover memorial and funeral expenses. In just a matter of days, more than $85,000 had been donated, much of it from parents of other UNH students: “As parents of a Wildcat, we feel such a profound sense of sadness. Our thoughts and prayers are with you,” wrote one. “We are a UNH family united and send our love and support to … all of the Lirosi friends and family,” said another donor.
The community gathered outside Thompson Hall to remember Vinny — you can watch video from the vigil.
UNH Police shared on their social media: “Whether you knew him or not, (Vinny) was one of us; please take care of yourselves and one another. Reach out for help, be kind to one another and know he is #ForeverAWildcat.”
New Faces
Solemn Anniversary
This past fall,as the country marked the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, UNH Magazine asked some of the key people on campus that day in 2001 to recall their experiences — and looked at how today’s students are being educated about this piece of American history.
Kim Billings, then director of the UNH News Bureau, recalls the phone call from the dean of the College of Liberal Arts on Sept. 11, 2001; that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. “I yelled out ‘Something’s happening in New York City!’ and everybody went into the conference room,” Billings recalls. The office in Schofield house had just purchased a television, and so, before the era of smartphones, gathering around a television was the fastest way to find out what was happening. More faculty and staff joined the crowd in Schofield House, as a second plane hit the World Trade Center, and a third crashed into the Pentagon.
Critical Care
alling it a successful model for how the state can invest in solutions to address challenges in the Granite State, Gov. Chris Sununu and others officially opened the University of New Hampshire’s new Health Sciences Simulation Center last November.
The $9 million state-of-the-art facility was made possible by major funding from the state of New Hampshire, and will allow UNH to expand programs to address the critical healthcare workforce shortage in the Granite State. Through a phased growth approach, the university will double the number of graduates in nursing and other clinical disciplines, filling critical needs in communities throughout the state.
The healthcare worker shortage in the Granite State has been looming for years, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — and the increasing infections and hospitalizations now two years later —quickly made a bad situation worse in terms of filling healthcare roles, and keeping longtime nurses, doctors and others from burning out and leaving their positions. The same month the center opened, New Hampshire TV station WMUR reported that hospitals and nursing homes were offering bonuses and other incentives to help fill the gaps in nursing staff — with at least one major Manchester hospital reporting 76 unfilled nursing jobs.
Reaffirmed: National leadership in sustainability
“We know that one of the most important qualities that students look for in a university is a genuine commitment to sustainability,” said UNH President James W. Dean Jr. “Working for a more sustainable world is one of our strategic priorities, and we’re proud to be at the forefront in looking to the future, helping our state be more resilient and graduating thousands of leaders who are ready to address these challenges.”
Digging for History
hen Exeter resident Nan Nutt dug up an egg-shaped rock at an archaeological survey in Durham, her first thought was, “It’s just another rock” — the site was full of them. But there was something about its shape and smooth exterior caused her to pause before tossing it aside.
That rock, it turns out, was an Indigenous stone tool found in the hearth of a 17th century British homestead. And finding that tool in that location had great significance: It was key to discrediting the colonial narrative about the savagery and warfare of the Indigenous people living in the region at the time. Coupled with evidence of Indigenous food remains in the hearth, it became clear that there was a peaceful relationship and exchange between the colonials and the Indigenous people, at least for a generation or two.
A Record Season
The successful run ended on Nov. 27 in the Sweet Sixteen loss to No. 1 seed Oregon State. That game, coming off a powerhouse win for UNH against UNC (4-1), was UNH’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth straight, during a season when the Wildcats outscored the opposition, 47-10.
With the team motto of “Delayed, not Denied,” the Wildcat players believe that their next championship is within reach again — they’ve been America East champions for the past three years.
Two Greats Leave the Field
Scarano leaves after his 22nd year at UNH and his 41st in college athletics. It was under his leadership that the privately funded Watkins Center for Student-Athlete Excellence opened, and UNH earned an NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 95% in 2020 and won the America East Academic Cup for highest cumulative GPA four times in the last seven years. Athletes and fans alike benefitted from his leadership as champion of the construction of Wildcat Stadium and Tucker Field.
Sean McDonnell, known to many as “Coach Mac” shared his thoughts on his own retirement. “It’s time for a new face, new ideas and a new way of doing things around here,” McDonnell said in a statement. “I can’t begin to say thank you enough for the opportunities the University of New Hampshire has given to me: as a student, as an assistant coach and then as its head football coach. This has been the honor of a lifetime.” He was a defensive back for the Wildcats football team from 1975 to 1978 and served eight season as assistant coach before taking the reins as head coach.
We’ll have more about Scarano’s and McDonnell’s careers at UNH in the summer edition of UNH Magazine.
Speaking of record-breaking…
Williams broke the record with a throw of 59’1.50″ as she placed fourth out of 31 athletes. The previous record was set by Ashlee Lathrop in 2010 at 58’8″. This is Williams’ second school record at UNH as she also set the school record in the outdoor shot put in 2021. She also recorded a 14th place finish out of 28 in the shot put with a throw of 40’5″.
Williams, from Dover, New Hampshire, is majoring in human development and family studies.
Buzzer beater: Women’s hoops makes ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 plays of the day
With the game tied at 66 and just one second left in the game, Delaruelle pulled up from just inside mid court and swished her final 3 to deliver the Wildcats their first conference victory of the season. She went 6-for-12 from the floor, 5 of 8 beyond the arc, added seven rebounds, six assists and a career-high-matching four steals.
Delaruelle, who hails from Enghien-les-Bains, France, is a mechanical engineering major.
See that winning moment at more highlights at UNH Athletics.
On the Forefront
With contributing writers Michelle Morrissey ’97 and Robbin Ray ’82
rom the roads we drive on to our teens’ safety, and from the lingering COVID-19 pandemic to the ways the climate crisis affects the environment around us, research being done by UNH faculty, staff and students is advancing the well-being of our state, the world, and all of us in our daily lives.
A Parting Well Made
sk David Richman how he felt about directing his final show after more than three decades as a theatre historian and professor at UNH, and he’ll forego emotional reflection in favor of his signature straightforwardness
“I’m simply not very sentimental.”
Ask him to select a most memorable performance from the list of more than 40 that he’s overseen at UNH and he’ll deftly dodge that as well, stating plainly that his favorite show was always the one he was working on at the time.
Indeed, for those seeking sappy monologues on a life in the arts or saccharine musings about how much the last this or that means to Richman as he approaches his retirement this spring, you’ve come to the wrong place.
“I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you,” Richman says.
But ask Richman about two things — Shakespeare and his students — and the hardy matter-of-fact veneer recedes, replaced with a vulnerable and emotional earnestness and a palpable, heartfelt appreciation.
The Class
of 2022
Looks Back
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY GASOWSKI
n a few weeks’ time, UNH seniors will be filing their intent to graduate forms —the formal paperwork that signals the completion of their undergraduate degrees. Once filed, credits will be counted up, GPAs tabulated, caps and gowns ordered. It’s a rite of passage each May, but when this graduating class, the roughly 2,600 members of the Class of 2022, walks across the Commencement stage this spring, it will be the culmination of an undergraduate experience unlike any other in UNH’s history.
This is the class of students who know the before-pandemic normalcy of their freshman year, and who have been adjusting to varying “new normals” each year since. As the pandemic has extended from a two-week lockdown in spring 2020 to a two-year reality in 2022, its longevity has meant that the typical life of a college student has come to include as many nose swabs and masks as it has traditionally held long study hours and weekend parties. During that time, protests against social injustice and racism, and rising political divisiveness have also taken root, increasing the challenges for college-aged students.
Sharing Expertise
eborah Overdeput ’82 will tell you that the idea of mentoring came to her late in her career. She was working in the financial services industry in 2008 when the market collapsed, the Great Recession set in and she — like so many others at that time — lost her job.
“A mentor helped me think through a lot of things at that time. I also connected with a bunch of people who helped me, as well.” She realized that as she figured out how to move her life forward, mentors were providing valuable advice, guidance and feedback.
A Resource for All
“I realized that I had to learn and continuously involve myself in DEIJ work so that I can feel like I can be part of New Hampshire,” explains Mejia. “Being part of the UNH community helped me turn my DEIJ work into my passion, that then quickly became my career.”
At the start of this school year, Mejia was named diversity, equity, inclusion and justice director of SAU 16, which includes schools in Exeter, Newfields, East Kingston, Kensington, Brentwood and Stratham. His position is a first such hire by a public school district in the Granite State.
Hanging Up Her Notebook
hen Jackie MacMullan was 15, she was a high school athlete, frustrated by the lack of coverage given to girls’ sports in the local newspaper. She complained to her father, who urged her to call up the paper. The sports editor tossed her a challenge: “Why don’t you write something and I’ll put it in the paper?”
“I’m a kid,” she recalled protesting at the time. But before she knew it, the kid had her own column. Her subject: girls who were exceptional athletes.
By the time she got to UNH, MacMullan knew she wanted to be a sportswriter, and faculty mentors like the late Don Murray ’48, director of the journalism program, and Andrew Merton encouraged her.
‘I left everything on the track’
Elle Purrier St. Pierre, a 2018 graduate of the University of New Hampshire and member of Team USA, finished 10th in the Summer Olympics final of the women’s 1,500-meter run at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. She crossed the finish line with a time of 4 minutes, 1.75 seconds.
“It was really emotional. I know I gave it my all,” Purrier St. Pierre said in a post-race interview with media. “I left everything on the track. I’m really proud of myself. So, walking off, I wasn’t disappointed. Even though I didn’t make it in the top five, I was really hopeful because I knew that it was a fast heat. It was just waiting for those 10 minutes or so to find out was really stressful, but obviously I’m happy now.”
A Career of Perseverance
nn Baker Jenkins’s favorite subject in high school was physics. But while a sophomore at Boston University in the late 1940s, she learned a truth that, while troubling, motivated her to pursue an academic career in the sciences with even more fervor.
“We were told that women couldn’t get jobs in physics. My options were limited to dietitian, chemistry or biology. I had a terrible experience in high school trying to kill a frog, so biology was out,” she jokes.
Not one to let obstacles hinder her goals, Baker Jenkins went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemistry (along with her twin sister, Alma, and a handful of other women) from Boston University in 1950, and a master’s degree in chemistry there in 1952. She next earned a doctorate in inorganic chemistry at the University of New Hampshire in 1961. A lifelong love of learning then sent her to Boston University, where, after more than a decade teaching at American University as a tenured professor, she earned an environmental law degree and an MBA at Boston University in 1977.
Seeing a Need
hile a business student at UNH, Geno Miller ’17 noticed a troubling trend: “A lot of companies seemed to be paying lip service to hiring engineers of color. Those organizations were making public pledges to be more diverse, yet that wasn’t happening,” Miller says. “I’d see people I knew and people who looked like myself applying for jobs that I knew were capable of doing the work, yet they were being turned down for reasons that were unclear to me.”
He started to wonder: what was the hold-up? A lack of interviewees, a lack of talent, or something else? Solving that disconnect became the basis of Shtudy, a Manchester, N.H.-based online company that works with black and Latinx people to help them secure those sought-after tech-sector jobs. Shtudy offers webinars, seminars and mentoring assistance, including resume building and developing interviewing skills that people need to master when they’re trying to break into the upper echelon job market.
Bright shall thy mem’ry be
