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FROM GUTENBERG TO GOOGLE • TENDING THE FLOCK • SIREN SONGS




St.Michael’s
                                                   Volume 48 Number 1 Spring 2009
                                                          www.utoronto.ca/stmikes




University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto Alumni Magazine




                                                   GARDENS
                                                    OF THE
                                                     MIND
                                                   A former SMC Dean of Students
                                                    masterminds top garden design
                                                    showcase on the St. Lawrence
St. Michael’s
    The University of St. Michael’s
     College Alumni Magazine
                                              Contents
            PUBLISHER
       Office of Alumni Affairs
                                              05     CAMPUS NOTES
          and Development

              EDITOR                          10   From Gutenberg to Google
                                                   SMC’s Book and Media Studies program attracts
         Mechtild Hoppenrath
                                                   students to examine the media that carry the message
          COPY EDITORS                             BY PHILIP MARCHAND 6T9
        Fr. Claude Arnold CSB
            J. Barrett Healy
    Fr. Robert Madden CSB 5T2                 16   Gardens of the Mind
                                                   A former SMC Dean of Students masterminds
 CAMPUS NOTES & SNAPSHOT                           top garden design showcase on the St. Lawrence
       Amy Stupavsky                               BY CHARLES OBERDORF
      CONSULTING EDITOR
         Charles Oberdorf                     22   Triathlons, Drum Sets
                                                   and the Quest for God
   EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE &
                                                   The surprising dimensions of Research
       PHOTOGRAPHY
                                                   in Motion’s Chief Operating Officer
          Eva Wong
                                                   BY GRAHAM F. SCOTT
           DISTRIBUTION
             Ken Schnell
                                              24   Tending the Flock
                                                   Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programs
  ART DIRECTION & DESIGN:
     Fresh Art & Design Inc.                       encourage children to find their own way to God
                                                   BY AMY STUPAVSKY
               COVER
    Detail of an exhibition garden
  at Les Jardins de Métis in Québec
      Photo : 2006, Louise Tanguay,
                                              26   Siren Songs
                                                   Canada’s hottest singer-songwriter tells
     Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens               how St. Mike’s taught him to overreach
     Publication Mail Agreement                    BY JUSTIN RUTLEDGE
            No: 40068944
  Please send comments, corrections           30         HONOURS
    and enquiries to Ken Schnell,
     Manager, Annual Campaign
   Alumni Affairs & Development
                                              31    BULLETIN BOARD
  University of St. Michael’s College
          81 St. Mary Street,
        Toronto, ON M5S 1J4
                                                   Columns
      Telephone: 416-926-7281                 04   ZEITGEIST
          Fax: 416-926-2339                        Philosophy and the “New Era of Responsibility”
   Email: ken.schnell@utoronto.ca
                                              09   GIVING
     Alumni, friends and students of               Tribute to Frank Morneau
     St. Michael’s College receive this
         magazine free of charge.             15   ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
           Visit our website at                    Upcoming Events
         www.utoronto.ca/stmikes
                                              28   THE VIEW FROM SMCSU
   Correction: The writer credit under last        Surround Sound, Graffiti, Grease and Hair
 issue’s story Clear Conscience should have
   read, “Sabitri Gosh is co-winner of the
                                              29   SNAPSHOT
                                                   At the Kelly Café with Sarah O’Connor
 2008 Canadian National Magazine Award,
  Service – Personal Finance & Business.”     35   ART ON CAMPUS
                                                   Falcon
2 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
THE VIEW FROM ELMSLEY PLACE



                                                                                         Good Works 101




                                             ST
                                                              MICHAEL’S IS INDEED                                                                        tailored to the students’ needs. There
                                                              a College with a heart!                                                                    is a balance between course materials
                                                              In this most discon-                                                                       and the students’ own interests, and
                                             certing year of unprecedented finan-                                                                        opportunity for change, initiative and
                                             cial downturns, spiraling unemploy-                                                                         growth. Currently, we have a full
                                             ment and all of the social angst and                                                                        complement of 14 students enrolled
                                             issues that accompany such a context, there is a message of hope at      in this program, which begins in February and ends in June with the
                                             St. Michael’s.                                                           creation and defense of a thesis project that addresses a concern they
                                                Late in the fall, one of our recent graduates approached Campus       have about the human condition. As our website proclaims “It’s Cool
                                             Ministry to ask for assistance for one of his clients—a young man who    to Stay in School.”
                                             had been injured and as a result has become a quadriplegic. This            February brought another opportunity to support student initiatives,
                                             young man required a chair lift to be installed at his home. The Cam-    this time in the shape of a Bake Sale organized to help re-forest Haiti.
                                             pus Ministry Social Justice Group enlisted the aid of SMCSU and the      To provide and plant a tree in Haiti costs $2. The Bake Sale raised
                                             Dean of Students. Our students contributed their time and talents to     enough to provide 150 trees. The students have a goal of 300 trees in
                                             organize a “Coffee House” during “Chill Week” to raise the funds         mind, so we shall need to stay tuned for the next fundraising initiative.
                                             required for the lift. The recipient of the $3,000 raised attended the      In addition to their academic pursuits, I could not even begin to
                                             “Coffee House”, where he was made welcome by all present.                list the volunteer activities that engage our students in many areas in,
                                                The Friends of the Library conducted their annual, very successful    around and outside the campus. None of this should surprise us in a
                                             Book Sale in the fall as well. Over 130 boxes of the leftover volumes    College whose history of social and intellectual outreach is legendary.
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE




                                             were selected by “The International Book Buddy Trust” and sent to        Such outreach is part of the fabric of who we are at St. Michael’s,
                                             Malawi as part of an aid package for schools there.                      because we are founded in a tradition that believes that “whatsoever
                                                Susan Martin-Willis 8T6, a teacher at the J. Clark Richardson Col-    you do to these little ones you do to Me.” (Matt.25:40)!
                                             legiate in Ajax, founded the Transitions Program. This program
                                             became a part of St. Michael’s in 2005 and is currently organized and    PROFESSOR ANNE ANDERSON CSJ, PRESIDENT,
                                             delivered by Cheryl Rock. Transitions helps students at risk of drop-    UNIVERSITY OF ST. MICHAEL’S COLLEGE
                                             ping out of high school to complete their credits on a post-secondary    In January, the Collegium of the University of St. Michael’s College
                                             campus. These are underachievers with promise. In the new learning       announced the appointment of Sister Anne as the University’s
                                             environment, they are responsible for their own learning in a program    President and Vice-Chancellor.

                                                                                                                                                                      St. Michael’s Spring 2009 3
ZEITGEIST



                                                “Whodunnit?”
                                        Philosophy and the “new era of responsibility”
                                                        BY PAMELA J. REEVE PHD



IN
                SEPTEMBER 2008, A SMALL GROUP OF ACADEMICS GATH-           investment firms would govern themselves to protect shareholder
                ered for the Langan Conference, held at St. Michael’s      interest had proven to be fundamentally flawed.
                College, to discuss the topic “Responding to the Crisis        Henry Waxman, the committee chair, questioned Greenspan on
of Responsibility: A Philosophical Challenge.” As it turned out, the       his own responsibility for the crisis in light of his previously stated
conference theme anticipated U.S. President Barack Obama’s inau-           belief in unregulated free markets as “the unrivaled way to organize
gural address in January 2009 and his proclamation of a “new era of        economies.” Waxman pressed, “You had the authority to prevent
responsibility” in the face of the current global financial and envi-      irresponsible lending practices that led to the subprime mortgage
ronmental crises. What contribution can                                                                 crisis. You were advised to do so by
philosophy make to addressing these                                                                        many others. And now, our whole
very concrete, real-world events?                                                                           economy is paying its price. Do you
    In his paper, University of Notre                                                                     feel that your ideology pushed you to
Dame Philosophy Professor Ralph                                                                           make decisions that you wish you had
McInerny referred to the concept of                                                                      not made?”
human action proposed by 13th-century                                                                          Greenspan prefaced his response
theologian Thomas Aquinas as being                                                                         by defining ideology as “a conceptual
fundamental to responsible behaviour:                                                                       framework” mediating how people
“those actions alone are properly called                                                                “deal with reality,” explaining that
human, of which we are master…                                                                           everyone has and must have such a
through reason and will” (Summa                                                                          worldview in order to exist. He then
Theologiae I-II.1.1, 1265–1273). Moral                                                                    admitted that his ideology had proven
responsibility arises because we execute                                                                   wrong: “I found a flaw in the model
our actions with a preconceived end or                                                                    that I perceived is the critical function-
goal in mind. However, the ends we desire and the actions we take          ing structure that defines how the world works, so to speak.”
are a consequence of a larger outlook on life, which may contain               What better example to demonstrate the relationship between the
unexamined and possibly flawed assumptions.                                assumptions (ideology) of an individual whose decisions governed
    Several times during the conference, reference was made to the         the conduct of business in a particular sector and the consequences
current financial crisis as a place where one finds a failure of respon-   of flaws in those assumptions? The issue of responsibility thus
sibility in an especially acute form. The financial turmoil arose from     addresses not only action and inaction, but includes the worldview,
the securitization of U.S. subprime mortgage debt, which then pro-         or ‘philosophy’, that shapes the thinking behind the action.
liferated through the global financial system. Determining who is              Questioning the validity of worldviews has traditionally been the
responsible is especially difficult, given the number of institutions      task of philosophy. Nevertheless, this questioning needs to be imple-
involved: mortgage brokers; credit-rating agencies; investment banks       mented in the world if one is to avoid the critical edge of Marx’s chal-
who bought the mortgage-backed securities; the regulatory agencies         lenge that philosophy has only interpreted the world in various ways,
with oversight of these institutions; various levels of government.        whereas the point is to change it. !
    Professor McInerny raised a concern about the regulators relying
on profit-motivated corporations to govern themselves responsibly.         Pamela J. Reeve (www.pjreeve.com) holds a PhD in Philosophy from Uof T
                                                                                                                                                           ILLUSTRATION: ANSON LIAW




Interestingly, a month later, this very issue arose in a U.S. congres-     and currently teaches Philosophy for St. Augustine’s Seminary,Toronto
sional committee hearing. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan             School of Theology. She recently consulted to the federal government’s Expert
Greenspan admitted, “Those of us who have looked to the self-inter-        Panel on Securities Regulation and recommended that the new common
est of lending institutions to protect shareholder’s equity (myself        securities regulator have an independent investor advisory body. The Panel
especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief.” His assumption that      adopted her recommendation and included it in its draft legislation.

4 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
CAMPUS NOTES




                                                                                                          “Creating the cross was one of
                                                                                                          my most creative opportuni-
    Back row, L to R: Mike Shuryn, Matt Dillon, Brad Poulson, Sean Kavanaugh, Tyler Runnings,             ties.” It’s only fitting that a car-
   Rob Wighton. From front L: Davide Pernarella, Liam Callaghan, Tim Corcoran, Ryan Hamilton,             penter should craft it. “That
 Will Harris, Mark De Sanctis, Kevin Fawcett, Marc Trepanier. Lying down: Jonathon Elmes (goalie).        symbolism wasn’t lost on me.”
                                     Not pictured: Mike Didur
                                                                                                          KELLY LIBRARY BOOK SALE
SMC HOCKEY TEAM MAKES
IT FIVE IN A ROW!
                                  end. Honourable mentions go
                                  to goal scorers Ryan Hamilton,
                                                                        Chaplaincy Director, who
                                                                        commissioned the cross from       B    ook enthusiasts at The
                                                                                                               Friends of the John M.

W        ith a 4-2 victory over
         UTM (Mississauga) on
December 3, SMC's Div 1 Ice
                                  Tim Corcoran and Rob
                                  Wighton, and hearty congratu-
                                  lations to the rest of the players
                                                                        Steven Koschuk, SMC’s car-
                                                                        penter. The cross is made
                                                                        entirely of mahogany, culled
                                                                                                          Kelly Library’s fifth annual
                                                                                                          book sale (October 28-
                                                                                                          November 1) were not to be
Hockey team has won its fifth     for bringing home yet another         from surplus odds and ends        disappointed. A selection of
consecutive intramural champi-    championship to SMC! —                from the Kelly Library. A         fine art volumes, signed first
onship! The victory avenges a     Duane Rendle, Dean of Students        beveled cut along the cross is    editions by Canadian authors
heartbreaking loss to UTM                                               meant to evoke a bodyline,        and books by SMC scholars
earlier in the season, when our   NEW CROSS TO BEAR                     while the screw heads, repre-     were among the treasures up
team allowed two goals in the
last minute of play to tarnish
an otherwise undefeated sea-
                                  L   ast year’s St. Michael’s Easter
                                      Triduum celebrations intro-
                                  duced a new visual focal point
                                                                        senting Christ’s wounds, have
                                                                        been filed to look hand-tooled.
                                                                           “I wanted to make her
                                                                                                          for grabs. The sale raised
                                                                                                          $21,862. “We were delighted
                                                                                                          with the results,” said Friends
son. This time, SMC spent         in the form of an eight-foot tall     something simple but elegant,     President Caroline Morgan Di
most of the game relentlessly     cross. “I get chills when I look      something reflective of a poor    Giovanni 7T0. The proceeds
pressuring UTM in their own       at it,” says Marilyn Elphick,         carpenter,” says Koschuk.         will go to the library’s fund for

                                                                                                                    St. Michael’s Spring 2009 5
CAMPUS NOTES

                                                                                                     books and journal subscrip-
                                                                                                     tions, new furnishings for the
                                                                                                     student study areas, equipment
                                                                                                     replacement and professional
                                                                                                     development, and towards
                                                                                                     planning for the library’s
                                                                                                     upcoming 40th anniversary.
                                                                                                         The Opening Night
                                                                                                     Reception, a fundraiser and
                                                                                                     sale preview, featured guest
                                                                                                     speaker Michael Enright, host
                                                                                                     of CBC radio’s The Sunday
                                                                                                     Edition. In his address, he
                                                                                                     noted that while he didn't
                                                                                                     attend SMC, he had been a
         WORLD YOUTH DAY, SYDNEY 2008                                                                student at St. Michael's College
         L to R: On a beach in Queensland,                                                           School in Toronto. He was
       Australia, SMC students Greg Rupik,                                                           pleased to find himself on the
       Opani Mudalige and Adam Lalonde.                                                              university campus at last!
       Opani writes: “We are very grateful                             FAMILY DAY 2008
       to the USMC Chaplaincy, the Basilian                 Adam Power applies his body painting     THE MUSICAL TIES THAT BIND
            Fathers, alumni and all who
            supported our pilgrimage.”
                                                              skills to SMC student Thea Kennedy
                                                                 as part of the day’s activities.    ON          October 27, St.
                                                                                                                 Michael’s hosted
                                                                                                     Sacred Sounds, an ecumenical
                                                                                                     evening of religious music in
                                                                                                     the Madden Hall Auditorium.
                                                                                                     Featuring Christian, Jewish and
                                                                                                     Muslim singers, the event’s aim
                                                                                                     was to foster mutual respect
                                                                                                     and understanding. “It’s part of
                                                                                                     our commitment to dialogue
                                                                                                     among the Abrahamic faiths,”
                                                                                                     said organizer Michael
                                                                                                     O’Connor. “We wanted to
                                                                                                     emphasize the commonalities
                                                                                                     in the religions by focusing on
                                                                                                     the subject of music.”
                                                                                                         Nearly 70 students and         ARBOR AWARDS PHOTOS: LISA SAKULENSKY PHOTOGRAPHY

                                                                                                     people from local churches,
                                                                                                     synagogues and Muslim
                                                                                                     associations took up the invi-
                                                                                                     tation. “It was an enjoyable
                                                                                                     way to gain insight into
                                                                                                     another community — one
                                          ARBOR AWARDS 2008                                          that didn’t involve speeches
    Top row, L to R: Ann L. Sullivan 7T7, James N. Grace 6T7, Caroline F. (Morgan) DiGiovanni 7T0.   or lectures, but choirs and
                Bottom row, L to R: Michael Barrack 7T7, Marilyn K.F. (Frutkin) Grace 7T5,           a capella groups,” said
       Richard Hayward 7T0. Not pictured: David G. Broadhurst 6T3 and Dr. Richard Toporoski.         UofT New College student
                                                                                                     Hanah Zuberi.

6 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
BOOZER BROWN                                                                                                     APPOINTMENTS
                                         The 40th Boozer Brown                                                                                               • St. Michael’s College
                                       football match in Fall 2008                                                                                           welcomed the return of
                                       saw women again playing.                                                                                              Jonathan Bengtson to his
                                       The alumni team won 5-3.                                                                                              new position of Director of
                                                                                                                                                             Library and Archives on
                                                                                                                                                             November 1, 2008. Upon
                                                                                                                                                             the retirement of Professor
                                                                                                                                                             James Farge CSB on
                                                                                                                                                             January 1, 2010, he will
                                                                                                                                                             also assume the role of
                                                                                                                                                             Librarian of the Pontifical
                                                                                                                                                             Institute of Mediaeval
                                                                                                                                                             Studies. Bengtson previ-
                                                                                                                                                             ously served as Chief
                                                                                                                                                             Librarian of the John M.
                                                                                                                                                             Kelly Library, from March
                                                                                                                                                             2004 to the end of 2007.
                                                                                                                                                             • Leslie Belzak was ap-
                                                                                                                                                             pointed Director of
                                                                                                                                                             Development in November.
                                                                                                                                                             Belzak has been with the
                                                                                                                                                             College since 2003, previ-
                                                                                                                                                             ously as Senior Develop-
                                                                                                                                                             ment Officer. Currently,
                                                                                                                                                             she is responsible for the
                                                                                                                                                             administration of all
                                      Christianity & the Arts                                                                                                programs of the Alumni
                                                                                                                                                             and Development Office.
                                         Annual Lecture                                                                                                      • The Office of Alumni
                                                                                                                                                             Affairs and Development
                                                The Language of Stained Glass                                                                                appointed Betty Noakes as
                                                     Glass artist Sarah Hall, RCA
                                                                                                                                                             Donations Manager and
                                                 Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 7:30 pm
                                                                                                                                                             Stewardship Coordinator.
                                              Alumni Hall, Room 400, 121 St. Joseph St.
                                                                                                                                                             Noakes has previously
                                                All welcome. No registration required.
                                                                                                                                                             worked with UNICEF
                                                                                                                                                             Canada and Toronto
                                                                                                                                                             Centre Rosedale Federal
                                                                                                                                                             Liberal Riding Association.
                                         Celebrated Toronto-based stained glass artist Sarah Hall will give this year’s Christianity and the Arts lecture.   She assumed her position
PHOTO: STAINED GLASS: MICHAEL ELKAN




                                                   Hall is one of North America's best-known stained glass artists, recently elected into the                on January 5, taking on
                                                Royal Canadian Academy of Art, an honour achieved by only five Canadian glass artists in the                 many of the duties form-
                                           history of the Academy. She has produced some of the largest stained glass projects in North America,
                                                                                                                                                             erly handled by Angela
                                              her current project consisting of 33 monumental windows based on the Doctors of the Church for
                                                                                                                                                             Mazza, who, after nine
                                         St. Catharine of Siena in Columbus, Ohio. She has received numerous awards for outstanding liturgical art.
                                                                                                                                                             years with the Alumni
                                                      She is the author of The Color of Light: Commissioning Stained Glass for a Church
                                                                          (Liturgy Training Publications, Chicago 1999)
                                                                                                                                                             Office, moved on to
                                                                                                                                                             Wycliffe College. !


                                                                                                                                                                   St. Michael’s Spring 2009 7
GIVING


   Urbane Renewal 2
   In Spring 2007, this magazine
   reported the planned renovations
   to the College’s historic houses
   on Elmsley Place. Here, thanks
   to photographer Darrylynn
   McDonald, some glimpses into
   the transformations.

   Elmsley House Donors ($500+)
   Susan Adam Metzler, Joanne S
   Belsito, Maureen Berry, Wanda A C
   Bielawski, Catherine Brayley,
   David G Broadhurst, John P P
   Brown, Robert G Burns, Jim Carson,
   Robert & Anne Cobham, J Paul
   & Nadine Condon, J Martha
   Cunningham, Lisa Damiani,
   F George Davitt, Guy P Di Tomaso,
   Daniel Driscoll, Michael K Dugan,
   Gerald A Flaherty, Bill & Anne Fox,
   Robert W Henry, Joseph C M James,
   Dalia I Jocys, Diane L Karnay,
   David & Elizabeth Kerr, Edward &
   Ann Kerwin, Lefebvre & Lefebvre
   LLP, Kenneth P Lefebvre, Hugh &
   Laura MacKinnon, The Right Hon
   Paul Martin, Erin Metzler, Frank
   & Helen Morneau, Gertrude
   Mulcahy, Edmond G Odette, Louis L
   & Patricia M Odette, Terrence J
   O'Sullivan, Paul T Quinlan, Lennard
   & Starr Rambusch, Alexander
   Reford, Rosanne T Rocchi, Sal &
   Sheila Sarraino, The Estate of Ian G
   Scott, Edward & Marisa Sorbara,
   Norman W Stefnitz, Louise Ruth
   Summerhill, Anne C Trousdale,
   The Estate of Charles W Trunk Jr,
   Edward T Unger, Bernard J Wiacek,
   Wilhelmina M Wiacek
   3 Anonymous

   We also wish to thank all those
   donors who we are not able to list
   here because of the limited space.
   Your participation in this project is
   very much appreciated.




8 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
GIVING


                                                                                                  Tribute
                                                                    Celebrating faith, family and the many contributions of
                                                                    William Francis (Frank) Morneau K.C.S.G., K.G.C.H.S., D.Litt.S
                                                                                               BY ANNE ANDERSON CSJ




                                       ON
                                                              JANUARY 12, 2009, THE This Order is the highest recognition model. The important revision to our Mem-
                                                              University of St. Mich- accorded to Catholic laypersons for service orandum of Agreement and sale of our Bay
                                                              ael’s College regretfully to the Church.                                 Street lands were but a few of the matters
                                       accepted the resignation of Frank Morneau as        In addition to his substantial financial necessitating his attention, as well as the vital
                                       the Chair of its governing body, the Collegium. support of St. Michael's, Frank, as Chair of concerns around succession both at the Pres-
                                          Faith and family are the prime motivators the Collegium, devoted an enormous ident and Chairperson level. His efforts,
                                       in Frank's life. Nothing is more important amount of his time piloting the new Uni- internal and external, will benefit our stu-
                                       to him. While many people agree                                                                              dents for generations to come.
                                       that these values are worth culti-                                                                              Frank’s involvement with our
                                       vating, Frank lives them. His                                                                                founding Basilian Fathers dates
                                       commitment to faith-based edu-                                                                               back to his early days at Assump-
                                       cation is evident in the amount                                                                              tion High School and St.
                                       of time he has devoted to his                                                                                Michael’s College School. Their
                                       work for St. Michael’s. He has                                                                               recognition of him was evident
                                       also been actively involved with                                                                             through the University of St.
                                       the Archdiocese of Toronto as an                                                                             Michael’s College with the grant-
                                       advisor to the Archbishop, and                                                                               ing of a Honourary Doctorate in
                                       has provided leadership and                                                                                  1996. From a career perspective,
                                       guidance for Providence Health-                                                                              Frank has been a shareholder and
                                       care, Newman Centre, Knights                                                                                 Director of many private and
                                       and Ladies of the Holy Sepul-                                                                                public companies, as well as char-
                                       chre, St. Augustine’s Seminary                                                                               itable organizations. His main
                                       and many other organizations.                                                                                employment achievement cen-
                                          Toronto Archbishop Thomas             Frank Morneau and his wife, Helen, at their summer home on          tered around his founding of W.F.
                                       Collins, Chancellor of the Uni-             Georgian Bay with eleven of their twelve grandchildren.          Morneau & Associates in 1966,
                                       versity of St. Michael’s College                                                                             now known as Morneau Sobeco,
                                       notes that, “Frank Morneau is a truly versity of St. Michael’s Act through the a public entity with over 2,400 staff, on the
                                       devoted Catholic whose generous service has Ontario Legislature. This Act changed the           Toronto Stock Exchange and functioning as
                                       been a great source of strength for the peo- governance of the University, legislating the Canada’s largest Human Resource Consult-
                                       ple of the Archdiocese of Toronto for many appointment of external representatives as           ing and Actuarial Firm.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MORNEAU FAMILY




                                       years. His creative leadership of the St. well as representatives of the various con-              In 2008, Frank moved to Honourary
                                       Michael's College Collegium has been of stituencies the College serves.                         Chair and Director of Morneau Sobeco and
                                       particular benefit to the whole Catholic            His leadership at St. Michael’s was evident as of this January past, scaled back his many
                                       community which is served by the College.” from his initial involvement on our Finance charitable interests to devote more time to his
                                       In 1999 Frank was honoured by the Holy Committee dating back some eighteen years                bride of 47 years, their five children and
                                       Father for his many services to the Catholic plus. He had significant involvement as            twelve grandchildren. We wish him every joy
                                       community when he was appointed Knight Chair of the Collegium on many of its for-               as he alters his life’s plan while continuing to
                                       Commander in the Order of St. Gregory. mative issues under our new governance                   care for others. !

                                                                                                                                                               St. Michael’s Spring 2009 9
BOOK & MEDIA STUDIES




           From Gutenberg
              to Google
                               SMC’s Book and Media Studies program attracts students
                                    to examine the media that carry the message
                                                BY PHILIP MARCHAND 6T9




                                                           ARSHALL MCLUHAN, THE CEL-
                                           ebrated St. Michael’s College professor,
                                           once stated that the medium was the mes-
                                           sage. His benign ghost—surely he still fre-
                                           quents the college he loved so much in
                                           life—is doubtless pleased to witness the suc-
                                           cess of the College’s Book and Media Studies
                                           (BMS) program. More to the point, stu-
                                           dents also love the program. Launched in
                                           2002 as a minor College Academic Pro-
                                           gram, with thirteen enrolments, BMS is
                                           now a major program with 268 students
                                           from all across the Uof T campus.
                                               Nobody predicted this success. “When
                                           we launched this idea in the spring of 2002,
                                           we got some pretty strange looks,” recalls
                                           Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael’s
                                           College and head of the program. “‘Book
                                           history? Are you crazy? The book is dead.’”
                                           McGowan pauses and glances at his own
                                           office, full of books and documents. “These

10 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
PHOTOGRAPHY: RENÉE JACKSON




                             St. Michael’s Spring 2009 11
utenberg’s
                                                        press was
                                                       born perfect.
                                                        He got it.




may have been the same people who envi-           and being able to learn about the books that       when it comes right down to it, is give the
sioned the paper-less office. In reality,”        I love and knowing their history really attract-   students context. Context is so important
McGowan points out, “students find the            ed me to the program,” she comments.               for them—the fact, for example, that before
book fascinating. They say things like, ‘I pre-       Some of the students will enter the book       1850 the ordinary person couldn’t afford to
fer to have something solid in my hand            publishing industry after university—but           buy a newspaper or a book. That comes as a
when I’m reading, something that won’t            Speirs emphasizes that the course is not a         revelation to them.”
crash.’” When Program Coordinator Dor-            ‘how-to’ course in editing, or a form of cre-          Speirs and such colleagues as Yannick
othy Speirs asks students about their interest    ative writing, or a literature course, or any-     Portebois, who teaches a course on books
in the program, many of them cite their love      thing other than a study of books and other        and reading, are building on a great intellec-
of books as physical artefacts—the way they       media of communication. “We don’t con-             tual tradition at St. Michael’s College and the
look, and feel, and smell.                        centrate on literature as literature, what we’re   University of Toronto, a tradition begun by
    Somewhat to the surprise of Speirs, the       looking at is the book and the manuscript as       such pioneers in media studies as McLuhan
students are not all from arts or history pro-    artefacts,” comments Speirs. “We also put a        and Harold Innis. Innis and McLuhan real-
grams. Emily Yu, for example, a former par-       great deal of emphasis on things like the evo-     ized that various means of communication
ticipant in BMS as well as a student in the       lution of print and the printing press. It’s a     had specific effects on users, quite apart from
human biology program, is living indication       kind of cultural and historical perspective, I     the content of those means of communica-
that bibliophiles can be found in scientific      would say, more than a strictly literary per-      tion. Nothing in Plato’s Republic, McLuhan
disciplines. “I love to read in my spare time,    spective. What we’re trying to do really,          observed, was as important as the fact that

12 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
All artifacts shown
                                                                                                                            on this page
                                                                                                                            and other pages
                                                                                                                            are from the
                                                                                                                            St. Michael’s
                                                                                                                            College collection
                                                                                                                            of printing presses
                                                                                                                            and moveable type.




students, in a book culture, all had identical    funny to see the students touch it gingerly,      ing of invitations for the retirement dinner of
editions of the Republic, with the same print-    as if they’re going to break it,” Speirs adds.    College President Richard Alway last June.
ed paragraphs on the same page. This made         The cast-iron thing is a brute—but in the         Another McLuhan principle seems to be at
Plato not only more accessible to students,       eyes of Portebois it’s also a thing of beauty.    work—yesterday’s technology becomes
but encouraged the rise of linear thinking        “I love these machines,” she says with feel-      today’s art form. “It’s good for the College,
and uniformity in general.                        ing. When asked why, she replies, “I love         it’s good for the presidents and the students,”
   In the first floor of the St. Michael’s        human ingenuity. When you look at these           Portebois says of the work of the printing
College library, I stand with Speirs and          machines, some of them, their simplicity is       room. “It makes everything unique.”
Portebois beside a 19th-century printing          absolutely beautiful. Gutenberg’s press was            The BMS program deals with the con-
press, a relatively simple mechanism not          born perfect. He got it.”                         temporary scene as well as the past.
that different from the 16th-century presses          Not all of the presses in the St. Michael’s   Journalist, author and Master of Massey
that circulated Martin Luther’s writings          library are museum pieces. In the “printing       College, John Fraser, lectures on newspapers
with unprecedented speed and so made              room” on the second floor of the library are      in Canadian society for the program and has
possible the Protestant Reformation. The          old hand presses and trays of moveable type       taken students on field trips to the news-
press weighs 6,000 pounds. “That thing is         that have been used to print Christmas cards      room of the Globe and Mail. Mark
there forever,” Portebois says. “It’s not going   for the Principal and the President of the        McGowan teaches a course on “Broadcast
to go anywhere.” (It is far too heavy to be       College. These mechanisms have also been          Media and Culture,” and “Religion, Media
transported by elevators, for one thing.) “It’s   used for special occasions, such as the print-    and Culture,” the latter an overview of how

                                                                                                                         St. Michael’s Spring 2009 13
Labels on trays of
     moveable type
  specify point size
      and the name
        of the font.
   Typesetters kept
       trays holding
   capital letters in
     an upper case,
      trays of small
          letters in a
         lower case.




religious groups have used the media, both       Fulton J. Sheen, a star of early television and   interesting ride, and our problem now is
print and broadcast. The subject is of partic-   winner of an Emmy Award in 1952. “Sheen           that we just don’t have the resources to sus-
ular interest to historians of the College—it    was not only a very smart individual and a        tain the growth,” McGowan comments.
was a native of Hamilton, Ontario, and a St.     great communicator, but he had that sense         “The number of students from other col-
Michael’s College graduate, Father Charles       of the dramatic,” McGowan says. “He knew          leges is phenomenal—so we really are serv-
Coughlin, who became famous as the “radio        how to use the new medium very effectively,       ing the rest of the university and we’re doing
priest” during the Great Depression, reach-      by using a very simple set and by playing to      it on a shoestring budget.”
ing wide audiences with his political mes-       the camera.”                                           For the present, McGowan helps to
sage and forceful delivery. (Unfortunately,          Listening to Portebois and McGowan            sustain the program by engaging in what
his message was heavily tainted with anti-       discuss the fascinating historical details of     he calls “old fashioned horse trading” with
Semitism, unsolicited political diatribes, and   their subject—whether those details have to       sympathetic university departments,
denunciations of Franklin D. Roosevelt,          do with 19th-century French periodicals or        notably French and Italian. Any further
much to the chagrin of the American bish-        1950s American network television—an              growth in the program, under these cir-
ops and the Vatican.) Protestant televange-      outsider can well understand why the BMS          cumstances, will come slowly—but it is
lists may dominate the religious airwaves        program is popular with students. The prob-       unthinkable that a program of such vitali-
now, but they learned their lessons in the       lem, aggravated by the current economic cli-      ty, and with such connections to the
use of broadcast media from such Catholic        mate, is to sustain this interest with adequate   College’s intellectual traditions, will wither
virtuosos as Father Coughlin and Bishop          funds for the program. “It’s been a really        from lack of funds.!

14 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION



                                                         A Cool One
                                               Alumni offer a refresher course—in beer
                         BY STEVEN WILLIAMS 9T4, PRESIDENT, USMC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD




ON
                    MAY 6, THE USMC ALUMNI                                                                1993, when European Union laws superseded
                    Association Events Committee                                                         it, the Reinheitsgebot limited German brewers
                    will hold a beer tasting for                                                         to only three ingredients: barley, hops and
alumni and friends at the Mill Street Brewery in                                                        water. What most people don’t know, though,
Toronto’s historic Distillery District. Join us for                                                     is that the original intent was not to keep the
a tour of the brewery, led by Mill Street’s staff,                                                      beer pure. It was to prevent brewers from using
followed by a tasting and hors d'oeuvres. Those                                                        grains good for baking bread—more buns but
with a passion for the flavour of barley and hops,                                                     fewer cheers.
bring your best stein and prepare to sample the                                                            Beer Tasting and Tour of the Brewery at the
finest craft lagers and ales. Want to show off?                                                        Mill Steet Brewery at 6 pm, $45 per person. For
Drop this little tidbit about Germany’s famous                                                        information and registration please call the
Purity Law, the Reinheitsgebot (RINE-hites-gue-                                                       Office of Alumni Affairs at 416-926-7260. Book
bote.) Enacted in 1516 and strictly enforced until                                                    now, before it’s too late. !




                                         UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS
 Christianity & the Arts                 Special Spring Reunion Lecture                                                   1-3 pm
 Annual Lecture                          by His Grace Thomas Collins,
                                                                                   Spring Reunion                         Lecture by His Grace Thomas
                                                                                   May 29 - 31, 2009
 The Language of Stained Glass           Archbishop of Toronto,                                                           Collins, Archbishop of Toronto,
                                                                                   FRIDAY, MAY 29
 Glass artist Sarah Hall, RCA            Chancellor, USMC                                                                 Chancellor, USMC
                                                                                   11 am
 Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 7:30 pm      The Catholic University                                                          (See details two columns to the left)
                                                                                   Class of 5T9 50th Anniversary Mass
 Alumni Hall, Room 400                   in the 21st Century                                                              6:30 pm
                                                                                   St. Michael’s College Chapel
 121 St. Joseph St                       Saturday, May 30, 2009, 1 pm                                                     Honoured Years’ Cocktail Reception
                                                                                   (below St. Basil’s Church)
 (For more details, see page 7).         Charbonnel Lounge                                                                Odette Lounge, Brennan Hall
                                                                                   12 noon
 All welcome. No registration required   81 St. Mary Street                                                               7:30 pm
                                                                                   Class of 5T9 50th Anniversary Lunch
                                         All welcome. Registration: 416-926-2255                                          Honoured Years’ Dinner
                                                                                   Charbonnel Lounge
 Alumni Association Gourmet Event                                                                                         Sam Sorbara Auditorium,
                                                                                   81 St. Mary Street
 Beer Tasting & Brewery Tour             400th Anniversary Celebration                                                    Brennan Hall
                                                                                   1:45 pm
 Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 6 pm            of the Loretto Sisters                                                           9:30-11 pm
                                                                                   The Donovan Art Collection Tour
 Mill St. Brewery, Distillery District   Corporate Responsibility Workshop                                                After Dinner Reception
                                                                                   7 pm
 65 Mill St., Building 63                Saturday, September 26, 2009
                                                                                   St. Michael’s College Alumni
 Toronto, ON                             9:00 am - 5:00 pm                                                                SUNDAY, MAY 31
                                                                                   Association Annual General Meeting
 Registration: 416-926-7260              Sponsored by the Sisters of Loretto                                              11 am
                                                                                   Sam Sorbara Auditorium, Brennan Hall
 Cost: $45                               and USMC Continuing Education                                                    All Alumni Mass
                                                                                   8 pm-12 am
                                         For more details: Angela Convertini,                                             St. Michael’s College Chapel
                                                                                   All Alumni Reception
 Annual Book Sale                        416-925-2833 or at maryeileendonovan                                             (below St. Basil’s Church)
                                                                                   Odette Lounge, Brennan Hall
 John M. Kelly Library                   @rogers.com                                                                      12 noon
 Tuesday to Saturday                                                                                                      Complimentary Brunch
                                                                                   SATURDAY, MAY 30
 October 27 – 31, 2009                                                                                                    Sam Sorbara Auditorium,
                                                                                   12 noon
 For more details, email                                                                                                  Brennan Hall
                                                                                   Campus Tour
 usmc.booksale@utoronto.ca
                                                                                   Charbonnel Lounge, 81 St. Mary St.

                     For information on alumni events, please call Eva at 416-926-7260 or visit our website at www.utoronto.ca/stmikes


                                                                                                                                   --St. Michael’s Spring 2009 15
COVER STORY



                       Gardens of the Mind
   A former SMC Dean of Students masterminds top garden design showcase on the St. Lawrence
                                                         BY CHARLES OBERDORF



W
               HAT THESE PAGES SHOW ARE NOT WHAT MOST PEOPLE             in his great-grandmother’s garden into a full-time position as its direc-
              would call gardens, but all of them were created by        tor. He quit St. Michael’s and in early 1995 moved to Métis.
              young garden designers in response to basic questions          Three years later, touring a garden festival in Chaumont-sur-Loire,
about the garden. Is it a place to look inward or outward? A place of    in France, a light went on for him. At the time, Reford Gardens had
stillness or movement? Part of nature world or an alternative to it? A   a relationship with the University of Montreal’s summer school in
stimulus for the eye, the ear, the body?                                 landscape and garden design. Reford had seen how hard it was for stu-
     Each year for the last nine years, between eight and 15 small gar-  dents to get any of their work built, especially ideas that pushed the
dens like these have constituted the International Garden Festival at    envelope. A festival like the one in France would give some of them,
the Jardins de Métis (a.k.a. Reford Gardens) on the St. Lawrence         and other young designers, a chance to show their stuff.
River about 270 km northeast of Québec City. The person most                 It would also give Reford Gardens greater visibility and encourage
responsible for the festival is an alumnus of St. Michael’s—even, for    people to come back. This last was important. About 85 percent of
eight years, a Dean of Students, Alexander Reford 8T4.                                its visitors come from inside Québec; most of them sum-
     Reford looked so young in 1987, when he became                                   mer in the region every year. Getting them to make
dean—he was working on his Masters in History–that                                    repeat visits would be as remunerative as attracting new
some called him the “Teen of St. Michael’s.” Young or                                 visitors–and easier.
not, he remained dean for eight years, meanwhile work-                                    Now in its tenth year, the International Garden
ing toward a doctorate and writing for the Dictionary of                              Festival has so far showcased 75 gardens by approximate-
Canadian Biography (DCB).                                                             ly 200 designers from nine countries. By last December,
     He was actually researching a DCB entry about a dis-                             127 design teams had entered proposals for this year’s fes-
tant ancestor when, in a family archive, he discovered a                              tival. Winners get six weeks to create their gardens and a
                                                               Alexander Reford
trove of material about his great-grandmother’s vast                                  budget of $25,000 —$5,000 for the design and $10,000
flower gardens in Métis, Québec, where his ancestors had once            each for materials and labour. After one summer, or possibly two,
owned a salmon fishing camp with a 37-room “lodge” for themselves        each plot must be returned to its original condition. (Those con-
and their guests. Reford decided to go to Métis, to see the gardens      straints alone rule out the use of most garden staples, such as flower-
himself and possibly write a book about them.                            ing shrubs or perennials.) As for visibility, some design teams have
     Reford Gardens is still very much what most people imagine a great  been asked to recreate their festival gardens at similar events in
garden to be. Elsie Reford created its 40 acres of flowerbeds and bor-   Canada, France, Italy and the U.K. In December, a book about the
ders starting just after World War I. In 1952, when she was 82, she      Festival was the lead item in a New York Times roundup review of the
gave the property to her son Bruce, Alex’s grandfather, but he was       most interesting garden books of 2008.
unable to maintain the gardens. So, retaining a riverfront farm on the       Alex Reford says that his time at St. Michael’s gave him some
property, he put the lodge and gardens up for sale. The province         preparation for his life today. As Dean of Students, he had some
bought them and opened them to the public as a tourist attraction.       responsibility for the grounds around the residences, though he’s
     Alex Reford had visited Métis two or three times, but as a child.   quick to admit that he was never a hands-on gardener like the
(After his grandfather sold them, he says, they took on “a sort of       College’s aptly named Fr. Gardner, not to mention those two other
‘Paradise Lost’ quality” in the family.) Now, seeing them for the first  avid trowel-wielders, Fr. Scollard and Fr. McConica.
time as an adult, he learned that they might be lost again. The              Where the College probably prepared him best, though, he thinks,
province had been losing $300,000 a year on them and was thinking        was in its sharply contrasting seasons. “The gardens are the exact
of selling them, possibly to a developer.                                inverse of the campus,” he says. “St. Michael’s was very intensive from
     Together with two family members and the nonprofit group that       September to May, and then nothing. At Métis, it’s just the opposite.
had been running the gardens’ restaurant, museum and gift shop,          But in that way, the two environments are really very similar.”
Reford quickly formed a foundation and wrote a business plan to pro-         Alex Reford is not allowed to have favourites among the festival
pose to the government. In just over a year, between August 1993 and gardens, but he agreed to identify several he felt were remarkable for
September 1994, he turned what began as a vague academic interest        different reasons. The comments about them are his.

16 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
Core Sample
North Design Office (Pete
and Alissa North), Toronto,
2005, 2006 and 2007
Pete and Alissa are young
practitioners of landscape
architecture and teach land-
scape architecture at UofT.
They created an elegant
garden inspired by the core
samples from mining and
geology, evoking one of
the motives that led to the
exploration of eastern
Quebec (by geologists
William Dawson and William
Logan). 100 tubes sampled
the local environment, each


                                             PHOTO : 2006, LOUISE TANGUAY, JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS
one stuffed with a sampling
of the landscape, stones,
cones, leaves, seeds and so
on. Interspersed with berms,
the site came to life as visitors
ambled through the vertical
forest, intrigued by the
contents and seduced by
the effect of the sunlight
traversing the tubes.


              St. Michael’s Spring 2009 17
Sous-terrain
    de jeu
    Cédule 40, Chicoutimi,
    Québec, 2005, 2006 and 2007
    This group of young visual
    artists from Chicoutimi creat-
    ed a space where the visitors
    themselves would plant the
    garden—not with a trowel
    and soil, but by interacting
    and using the over-sized
    swing. The movement of the
    visitors on the swing (and
    their enthusiastic enjoyment
    of same) sprinkled seed into
    the beds below, essentially
    planting the garden that
    came to life as the summer
    progressed. The contemporary
    garden is no longer a contem-
    plative space, but an interac-
    tive environment, where the
    visitor is as much a part of
    the garden as the gardener.


18 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
Une semaine
                                                                                                                                                      au potager
                                                                                                                                                      Michel Boulcourt, France, 2001
                                                                                                                                                      The vegetable garden is the
                                                                                                                                                      most familiar garden form,
                                                                                                                                                      and one with which even the
                                                                                                                                                      least adventurous of garden-
                                                                                                                                                      ers has some familiarity. It is
                                                                                                                                                      difficult to be innovative with
                                                                                                                                                      vegetables—but this French
                                                                                                                                                      designer showed how—creat-
                                                                                                                                                      ing a garden that was at once
                                                                                                                                                      productive and aesthetic. Vis-
PHOTOGRAPHY: PAGE 18: © 2007, MICHEL LAVERDIERE JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS; PAGE 19: © 2001, MICHEL LAVERDIERE JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS




                                                                                                                                                      itors toured a garden divided
                                                                                                                                                      into seven spaces (one for
                                                                                                                                                      each day of the week), each
                                                                                                                                                      of which used painted wheel-
                                                                                                                                                      barrows as the planting beds.
                                                                                                                                                      Each barrow was planted
                                                                                                                                                      with different edible plants
                                                                                                                                                      (herbs and vegetables), care-
                                                                                                                                                      fully chosen to be of the same
                                                                                                                                                      colour as the wheelbarrow,
                                                                                                                                                      thereby creating seven chro-
                                                                                                                                                      matically organized spaces in
                                                                                                                                                      perfect harmony. The garden
                                                                                                                                                      was thus illustrative of the
                                                                                                                                                      French tradition of ornamen-
                                                                                                                                                      tal gardens, where botany
                                                                                                                                                      and agriculture are perfectly
                                                                                                                                                      combined to create a beauti-
                                                                                                                                                      ful (and flavourful) garden.




                                                                                                                                                                                        St. Michael’s Spring 2009 19
Blue Stick Garden
         Claude Cormier, Montréal, 2000
         (it is coming back in 2009)
         This garden of 2700 blue and
         orange painted sticks has
         become one of the iconic sym-
         bols of contemporary garden
         design. It is anchored on the
         principles of garden design,
         and more specifically the
         English or mixed border, but
         uses sticks to provide height
         and colour. Replacing perennial
         plants with blue sticks, it is a




                                              PHOTOGRAPHY: PAGE 20: © 2000, LOUISE TANGUAY, JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS; PAGE 21: © 2007, MICHEL LAVERDIERE JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS
         very contemporary, some might
         say iconoclastic, gesture, partic-
         ularly because the design was
         inspired by Gertrude Jeykll
         (a popular figure from the
         Edwardian period of garden
         design) and my own great-
         grandmother, Elsie Reford,
         neither of whom would have
         quot;approved.quot; Many visitors had
         the same reaction, but through
         colour and imagination the
         designer fomented debate,
         and the garden has grown in
         acceptability and popularity—
         even after its demolition. We
         later presented it at Canada
         Blooms, at a Luytens-Jekyll
         garden in the UK, Hestercombe,
         at a garden show in Montreal
         and are re-presenting it this
         summer as a centrepiece of our
         10th anniversary celebrations.




20 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
Le Jardin des
Hespérides
Cao Perrot Studios
(Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot)
USA and France, 2006, 2007
This garden was inspired by
the quiet colours and forms
of Vietnam, with a giant lan-
tern at the centre of a quiet
pond. The lantern was saffron
coloured, like the robes of
Buddhist monks, and provid-
ed remarkable reflections in
the surrounding pool. Visitors
traversed the pool and the
lantern, balancing on the
hidden steps and seemingly
floating on the pond. Looking
up, visitors could see the blue
sky framed by the oculus of
the lantern. The effects were
multiple and the incorpora-
tion of such exotic materials
and plants (orange trees) in
the boreal forest was magical.




                                  St. Michael’s Spring 2009 21
ALUMNI PORTRAIT




                   Triathlons, Drum Sets
                   and the Quest for God
                  The surprising dimensions of Research in Motion’s Chief Operating Officer
                                                             BY GRAHAM F. SCOTT




L
        OTS OF SENIOR EXECUTIVES ARE REQUIRED TO CARRY A BLACK-                  Morrison was born and raised in Toronto, and attended Holy
          Berry smartphone. Don Morrison 7T5 carries three: one for          Rosary Church in Forest Hill. He went to St. Michael’s High School,
          checking email and making calls, and two just for testing.         where he says he was not exactly an academic stand-out: “I’m sure I
    It’s important for Morrison to know every inch of the popular            would have been voted least likely to succeed when I was graduating
gadgets; after all, the St. Michael’s College grad is Chief Operating        from high school,” he says now, laughing; “I probably set a record for
Officer of the BlackBerry division at Waterloo-based Research in             the number of consecutive years in summer school.” But he was
Motion, and he’s responsible for the smooth operation of the sales           determined to come to Uof T, and St. Michael’s College in particular.
network that sells the addictive little devices in 150 countries             To do that, he was going to have to bring his average up to 70 per
worldwide.                                                                                             cent. His Grade 13 math teacher, “a really
    “I don’t think you could be part of RIM                                                            tough Basilian” named Father Maurice
without a BlackBerry,” he says. It’s a big job,                                                        (Mo)Whelan, agreed to give him a high
at a big company, and it demands a lot from
                                                       “Both sides of this                             enough mark as long as Morrison made him
him. But while he enjoys the hectic pace, the                                                          a promise to “never take math again.”
international travel, having to keep an eye on      coin—diligent worker,                                  And he didn’t—not at first anyway.
dozens of different projects at once, and the                                                          Not knowing exactly what he wanted to
high expectations that come with the job, he        devout believer—were                               do, Morrison dabbled in a variety of sub-
is also deeply spiritual, committed to silence,                                                        jects in his first year at St. Mike’s. It was
contemplation, and prayer. Both sides of this
coin—diligent worker, devout believer—
                                                      minted, in part, at                              during his second and third years that
                                                                                                       he blossomed academically, enrolling in
were minted, in part, at St. Michael’s College.
    The years since Morrison became COO
                                                    St. Michael’s College.”                            subjects that had fascinated him as a
                                                                                                       teenager—comparative religion, theology,
in 2000 have been extraordinary for the com-                                                           philosophy and logic.
pany: Revenues have surged from $85 million to over $6 billion; the              The College’s Registrar at the time, Father Harry Gardner,
number of phone companies offering BlackBerry service jumped                 made a strong impact on the young Morrison. “Here’s this young
from four to more than 400; and the number of BlackBerrys in use             kid, who was lazy and didn’t know if he was any good, and maybe
worldwide exploded from a few thousand to 14 million.                        didn’t even know if he was smart, and the Registrar at St. Michael’s
    While he always gets to play with the latest versions of the gad-        College takes him under his wing, gives him a job, doesn’t molly-
get, Morrison says he’s not particularly tech-savvy himself. His job         coddle him, but treats him with respect, and has expectations that
isn’t about tinkering in the lab; he’s responsible for everything it takes   put him in a position of responsibility,” says Morrison. “That’s
to get a BlackBerry from the factory into your hands, including sales,       what Fr. Gardner did for me. As I was approaching adulthood, he
marketing and carrier agreements.                                            was really the first person, who truly believed in me outside of my
    “You have to get accustomed to doing 40 to 50 different things a         own family.”
day,” he says of his position. He has plenty of experience in telecom-           Fr. Gardner advised Morrison to pick his professors first and cours-
munications, having worked for Bell Canada and AT&T for almost               es later, an approach that led him to a startling discovery—that learn-
his entire career before 2000, shuttling back and forth between the          ing could actually be fun. (Ultimately, he broke his promise to Fr.
two phone giants in various executive roles.                                 Whelan, by taking calculus while doing his MBA degree in 1981.)

22 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
Morrison was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity                  Morrison likes to write and speak about spirituality, although he
while at UofT, but wasn’t heavily involved in extracurriculars. “I was       is not an evangelizer and rejects the notion that he has any definitive
a real loner,” he says. That was partly a function of his deep interest in   answers. He talks authoritatively and knowledgeably about theology
his religion. “If you’re studying spirituality and mysticism—and you’re      and the Church, but stresses that his only hope is to be an honest
in it not so much for the ideas, but you’re in it because you’re fasci-      example to others. flaws and all. “I see myself as pointing at some-
nated by the experience—by definition you have to spend a lot of             thing, and not judging other people for whether they do something
time alone,” he adds. “It’s not that you have to, it’s that you want to.”    or don’t. As saying, ‘This is something that is worthy of your atten-
     That interest in spirituality and faith has remained a constant in      tion. For your own sake, you owe it to yourself to explore this and
his life. “Since I was about 16 years old, I was absolutely fascinated       think about it and understand it.’”
by the stories of Christian saints, and then stories of other people              Some see these parts of Morrison’s life—jet-setting high-tech
who had had an intention and a hunger to know and understand                 executive and religious devotee—as incompatible, but he believes
God in this life, experientially,” Morrison says. “And so I decided to       it’s just the opposite. All the things that he gets from his faith—
make that the principal focus of my studies in university. And it is         such as a solid moral code, intentionality, commitment—also con-
still the single-most important driving need and interest that I con-        tribute to his success in business, he believes. “The Christian part
tinue to have today.”                                                        and the faith part are not antithetical to success,” he says, “but are
                                                                                                  actually the underpinnings of success.”Morrison
                                                                                                  recently turned 56, and having spent the first
                                                                                                  part of his professional life bouncing back and
                                                                                                  forth between Bell and AT&T, he’s happy with
                                                                                                  his role at Research in Motion. “This is it,” he
                                                                                                  says. He intends to stick with RIM for the long
                                                                                                  haul, and, as one friend, Sporting Life Pres-
                                                                                                  ident David Russell, joked to him, “go out with
                                                                                                  my boots on.”
                                                                                                      Though he could settle comfortably into the
                                                                                                  senior position, working at a high-tech company
                                                                                                  like RIM keeps him on his toes. Partly, it’s neces-
                                                                                                  sary for his job—selling the latest bells and whis-
                                                                                                  tles to demanding young customers who want all
                                                                                                  the latest features in their gadgets—but it’s also
                                                                                                  his natural personality. He’s preparing to run his
                                                                                                  first triathlon this year, for instance.
                                                                                                      He still practices the drumming he took up as
                                                                                                  a teenager, and keeps three drum sets at home.
                                                                                                  His preferences lean towards the classic rock of
                                                                                                  the 1960s and later: “Led Zepplin, Blood Sweat
                                                                                                  and Tears, Jimi Hendrix, that sort of thing.” He
                                                                                                  and his son, John, 22, co-own a music store,
                                                                                                  Criminal Records, on Toronto’s trendy Queen
                                                                                                  West strip, and he talks with enthusiasm about
                                                                                                  his son’s budding career as a DJ and musician. In
                                                                                                  contrast, Morrison’s daughter, Heather, 26, is the
                                                                                                  country mouse of the family, and lives on the
                                                                                                  Muskoka river: “Very much an outdoors person,”
                                                                                                  Morrison says.
                                                                                                      “Family’s still number one,” he says of his
                                                                                                  children and his wife Debbie, his high school
                                                                                                  sweetheart who now helps him run their charita-
                                                                                                  ble foundation. “If you want to see what’s impor-
                                                                                                  tant in people’s lives, look at how they make
                                                                                                  choices about how they spend their time.” !

                                                                                                                           St. Michael’s Spring 2009 23
CONTINUING EDUCATION




                               Tending the Flock
                                Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programs encourage
                                      children to find their own way to God
                                                      BY AMY STUPAVSKY




                                                                                     PHOTO: AMY STUPAVSKY




   Kathleen Ennis, Toronto coordinator of the Catechesis of the
   Good Shepherd, with some of the teaching tools in the Atrium.



24 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
USMC REPORT 2009
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USMC REPORT 2009

  • 1. FROM GUTENBERG TO GOOGLE • TENDING THE FLOCK • SIREN SONGS St.Michael’s Volume 48 Number 1 Spring 2009 www.utoronto.ca/stmikes University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto Alumni Magazine GARDENS OF THE MIND A former SMC Dean of Students masterminds top garden design showcase on the St. Lawrence
  • 2. St. Michael’s The University of St. Michael’s College Alumni Magazine Contents PUBLISHER Office of Alumni Affairs 05 CAMPUS NOTES and Development EDITOR 10 From Gutenberg to Google SMC’s Book and Media Studies program attracts Mechtild Hoppenrath students to examine the media that carry the message COPY EDITORS BY PHILIP MARCHAND 6T9 Fr. Claude Arnold CSB J. Barrett Healy Fr. Robert Madden CSB 5T2 16 Gardens of the Mind A former SMC Dean of Students masterminds CAMPUS NOTES & SNAPSHOT top garden design showcase on the St. Lawrence Amy Stupavsky BY CHARLES OBERDORF CONSULTING EDITOR Charles Oberdorf 22 Triathlons, Drum Sets and the Quest for God EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE & The surprising dimensions of Research PHOTOGRAPHY in Motion’s Chief Operating Officer Eva Wong BY GRAHAM F. SCOTT DISTRIBUTION Ken Schnell 24 Tending the Flock Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programs ART DIRECTION & DESIGN: Fresh Art & Design Inc. encourage children to find their own way to God BY AMY STUPAVSKY COVER Detail of an exhibition garden at Les Jardins de Métis in Québec Photo : 2006, Louise Tanguay, 26 Siren Songs Canada’s hottest singer-songwriter tells Jardins de Métis/Reford Gardens how St. Mike’s taught him to overreach Publication Mail Agreement BY JUSTIN RUTLEDGE No: 40068944 Please send comments, corrections 30 HONOURS and enquiries to Ken Schnell, Manager, Annual Campaign Alumni Affairs & Development 31 BULLETIN BOARD University of St. Michael’s College 81 St. Mary Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1J4 Columns Telephone: 416-926-7281 04 ZEITGEIST Fax: 416-926-2339 Philosophy and the “New Era of Responsibility” Email: ken.schnell@utoronto.ca 09 GIVING Alumni, friends and students of Tribute to Frank Morneau St. Michael’s College receive this magazine free of charge. 15 ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Visit our website at Upcoming Events www.utoronto.ca/stmikes 28 THE VIEW FROM SMCSU Correction: The writer credit under last Surround Sound, Graffiti, Grease and Hair issue’s story Clear Conscience should have read, “Sabitri Gosh is co-winner of the 29 SNAPSHOT At the Kelly Café with Sarah O’Connor 2008 Canadian National Magazine Award, Service – Personal Finance & Business.” 35 ART ON CAMPUS Falcon 2 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 3. THE VIEW FROM ELMSLEY PLACE Good Works 101 ST MICHAEL’S IS INDEED tailored to the students’ needs. There a College with a heart! is a balance between course materials In this most discon- and the students’ own interests, and certing year of unprecedented finan- opportunity for change, initiative and cial downturns, spiraling unemploy- growth. Currently, we have a full ment and all of the social angst and complement of 14 students enrolled issues that accompany such a context, there is a message of hope at in this program, which begins in February and ends in June with the St. Michael’s. creation and defense of a thesis project that addresses a concern they Late in the fall, one of our recent graduates approached Campus have about the human condition. As our website proclaims “It’s Cool Ministry to ask for assistance for one of his clients—a young man who to Stay in School.” had been injured and as a result has become a quadriplegic. This February brought another opportunity to support student initiatives, young man required a chair lift to be installed at his home. The Cam- this time in the shape of a Bake Sale organized to help re-forest Haiti. pus Ministry Social Justice Group enlisted the aid of SMCSU and the To provide and plant a tree in Haiti costs $2. The Bake Sale raised Dean of Students. Our students contributed their time and talents to enough to provide 150 trees. The students have a goal of 300 trees in organize a “Coffee House” during “Chill Week” to raise the funds mind, so we shall need to stay tuned for the next fundraising initiative. required for the lift. The recipient of the $3,000 raised attended the In addition to their academic pursuits, I could not even begin to “Coffee House”, where he was made welcome by all present. list the volunteer activities that engage our students in many areas in, The Friends of the Library conducted their annual, very successful around and outside the campus. None of this should surprise us in a Book Sale in the fall as well. Over 130 boxes of the leftover volumes College whose history of social and intellectual outreach is legendary. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE were selected by “The International Book Buddy Trust” and sent to Such outreach is part of the fabric of who we are at St. Michael’s, Malawi as part of an aid package for schools there. because we are founded in a tradition that believes that “whatsoever Susan Martin-Willis 8T6, a teacher at the J. Clark Richardson Col- you do to these little ones you do to Me.” (Matt.25:40)! legiate in Ajax, founded the Transitions Program. This program became a part of St. Michael’s in 2005 and is currently organized and PROFESSOR ANNE ANDERSON CSJ, PRESIDENT, delivered by Cheryl Rock. Transitions helps students at risk of drop- UNIVERSITY OF ST. MICHAEL’S COLLEGE ping out of high school to complete their credits on a post-secondary In January, the Collegium of the University of St. Michael’s College campus. These are underachievers with promise. In the new learning announced the appointment of Sister Anne as the University’s environment, they are responsible for their own learning in a program President and Vice-Chancellor. St. Michael’s Spring 2009 3
  • 4. ZEITGEIST “Whodunnit?” Philosophy and the “new era of responsibility” BY PAMELA J. REEVE PHD IN SEPTEMBER 2008, A SMALL GROUP OF ACADEMICS GATH- investment firms would govern themselves to protect shareholder ered for the Langan Conference, held at St. Michael’s interest had proven to be fundamentally flawed. College, to discuss the topic “Responding to the Crisis Henry Waxman, the committee chair, questioned Greenspan on of Responsibility: A Philosophical Challenge.” As it turned out, the his own responsibility for the crisis in light of his previously stated conference theme anticipated U.S. President Barack Obama’s inau- belief in unregulated free markets as “the unrivaled way to organize gural address in January 2009 and his proclamation of a “new era of economies.” Waxman pressed, “You had the authority to prevent responsibility” in the face of the current global financial and envi- irresponsible lending practices that led to the subprime mortgage ronmental crises. What contribution can crisis. You were advised to do so by philosophy make to addressing these many others. And now, our whole very concrete, real-world events? economy is paying its price. Do you In his paper, University of Notre feel that your ideology pushed you to Dame Philosophy Professor Ralph make decisions that you wish you had McInerny referred to the concept of not made?” human action proposed by 13th-century Greenspan prefaced his response theologian Thomas Aquinas as being by defining ideology as “a conceptual fundamental to responsible behaviour: framework” mediating how people “those actions alone are properly called “deal with reality,” explaining that human, of which we are master… everyone has and must have such a through reason and will” (Summa worldview in order to exist. He then Theologiae I-II.1.1, 1265–1273). Moral admitted that his ideology had proven responsibility arises because we execute wrong: “I found a flaw in the model our actions with a preconceived end or that I perceived is the critical function- goal in mind. However, the ends we desire and the actions we take ing structure that defines how the world works, so to speak.” are a consequence of a larger outlook on life, which may contain What better example to demonstrate the relationship between the unexamined and possibly flawed assumptions. assumptions (ideology) of an individual whose decisions governed Several times during the conference, reference was made to the the conduct of business in a particular sector and the consequences current financial crisis as a place where one finds a failure of respon- of flaws in those assumptions? The issue of responsibility thus sibility in an especially acute form. The financial turmoil arose from addresses not only action and inaction, but includes the worldview, the securitization of U.S. subprime mortgage debt, which then pro- or ‘philosophy’, that shapes the thinking behind the action. liferated through the global financial system. Determining who is Questioning the validity of worldviews has traditionally been the responsible is especially difficult, given the number of institutions task of philosophy. Nevertheless, this questioning needs to be imple- involved: mortgage brokers; credit-rating agencies; investment banks mented in the world if one is to avoid the critical edge of Marx’s chal- who bought the mortgage-backed securities; the regulatory agencies lenge that philosophy has only interpreted the world in various ways, with oversight of these institutions; various levels of government. whereas the point is to change it. ! Professor McInerny raised a concern about the regulators relying on profit-motivated corporations to govern themselves responsibly. Pamela J. Reeve (www.pjreeve.com) holds a PhD in Philosophy from Uof T ILLUSTRATION: ANSON LIAW Interestingly, a month later, this very issue arose in a U.S. congres- and currently teaches Philosophy for St. Augustine’s Seminary,Toronto sional committee hearing. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan School of Theology. She recently consulted to the federal government’s Expert Greenspan admitted, “Those of us who have looked to the self-inter- Panel on Securities Regulation and recommended that the new common est of lending institutions to protect shareholder’s equity (myself securities regulator have an independent investor advisory body. The Panel especially) are in a state of shocked disbelief.” His assumption that adopted her recommendation and included it in its draft legislation. 4 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 5. CAMPUS NOTES “Creating the cross was one of my most creative opportuni- Back row, L to R: Mike Shuryn, Matt Dillon, Brad Poulson, Sean Kavanaugh, Tyler Runnings, ties.” It’s only fitting that a car- Rob Wighton. From front L: Davide Pernarella, Liam Callaghan, Tim Corcoran, Ryan Hamilton, penter should craft it. “That Will Harris, Mark De Sanctis, Kevin Fawcett, Marc Trepanier. Lying down: Jonathon Elmes (goalie). symbolism wasn’t lost on me.” Not pictured: Mike Didur KELLY LIBRARY BOOK SALE SMC HOCKEY TEAM MAKES IT FIVE IN A ROW! end. Honourable mentions go to goal scorers Ryan Hamilton, Chaplaincy Director, who commissioned the cross from B ook enthusiasts at The Friends of the John M. W ith a 4-2 victory over UTM (Mississauga) on December 3, SMC's Div 1 Ice Tim Corcoran and Rob Wighton, and hearty congratu- lations to the rest of the players Steven Koschuk, SMC’s car- penter. The cross is made entirely of mahogany, culled Kelly Library’s fifth annual book sale (October 28- November 1) were not to be Hockey team has won its fifth for bringing home yet another from surplus odds and ends disappointed. A selection of consecutive intramural champi- championship to SMC! — from the Kelly Library. A fine art volumes, signed first onship! The victory avenges a Duane Rendle, Dean of Students beveled cut along the cross is editions by Canadian authors heartbreaking loss to UTM meant to evoke a bodyline, and books by SMC scholars earlier in the season, when our NEW CROSS TO BEAR while the screw heads, repre- were among the treasures up team allowed two goals in the last minute of play to tarnish an otherwise undefeated sea- L ast year’s St. Michael’s Easter Triduum celebrations intro- duced a new visual focal point senting Christ’s wounds, have been filed to look hand-tooled. “I wanted to make her for grabs. The sale raised $21,862. “We were delighted with the results,” said Friends son. This time, SMC spent in the form of an eight-foot tall something simple but elegant, President Caroline Morgan Di most of the game relentlessly cross. “I get chills when I look something reflective of a poor Giovanni 7T0. The proceeds pressuring UTM in their own at it,” says Marilyn Elphick, carpenter,” says Koschuk. will go to the library’s fund for St. Michael’s Spring 2009 5
  • 6. CAMPUS NOTES books and journal subscrip- tions, new furnishings for the student study areas, equipment replacement and professional development, and towards planning for the library’s upcoming 40th anniversary. The Opening Night Reception, a fundraiser and sale preview, featured guest speaker Michael Enright, host of CBC radio’s The Sunday Edition. In his address, he noted that while he didn't attend SMC, he had been a WORLD YOUTH DAY, SYDNEY 2008 student at St. Michael's College L to R: On a beach in Queensland, School in Toronto. He was Australia, SMC students Greg Rupik, pleased to find himself on the Opani Mudalige and Adam Lalonde. university campus at last! Opani writes: “We are very grateful FAMILY DAY 2008 to the USMC Chaplaincy, the Basilian Adam Power applies his body painting THE MUSICAL TIES THAT BIND Fathers, alumni and all who supported our pilgrimage.” skills to SMC student Thea Kennedy as part of the day’s activities. ON October 27, St. Michael’s hosted Sacred Sounds, an ecumenical evening of religious music in the Madden Hall Auditorium. Featuring Christian, Jewish and Muslim singers, the event’s aim was to foster mutual respect and understanding. “It’s part of our commitment to dialogue among the Abrahamic faiths,” said organizer Michael O’Connor. “We wanted to emphasize the commonalities in the religions by focusing on the subject of music.” Nearly 70 students and ARBOR AWARDS PHOTOS: LISA SAKULENSKY PHOTOGRAPHY people from local churches, synagogues and Muslim associations took up the invi- tation. “It was an enjoyable way to gain insight into another community — one ARBOR AWARDS 2008 that didn’t involve speeches Top row, L to R: Ann L. Sullivan 7T7, James N. Grace 6T7, Caroline F. (Morgan) DiGiovanni 7T0. or lectures, but choirs and Bottom row, L to R: Michael Barrack 7T7, Marilyn K.F. (Frutkin) Grace 7T5, a capella groups,” said Richard Hayward 7T0. Not pictured: David G. Broadhurst 6T3 and Dr. Richard Toporoski. UofT New College student Hanah Zuberi. 6 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 7. BOOZER BROWN APPOINTMENTS The 40th Boozer Brown • St. Michael’s College football match in Fall 2008 welcomed the return of saw women again playing. Jonathan Bengtson to his The alumni team won 5-3. new position of Director of Library and Archives on November 1, 2008. Upon the retirement of Professor James Farge CSB on January 1, 2010, he will also assume the role of Librarian of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. Bengtson previ- ously served as Chief Librarian of the John M. Kelly Library, from March 2004 to the end of 2007. • Leslie Belzak was ap- pointed Director of Development in November. Belzak has been with the College since 2003, previ- ously as Senior Develop- ment Officer. Currently, she is responsible for the administration of all Christianity & the Arts programs of the Alumni and Development Office. Annual Lecture • The Office of Alumni Affairs and Development The Language of Stained Glass appointed Betty Noakes as Glass artist Sarah Hall, RCA Donations Manager and Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 7:30 pm Stewardship Coordinator. Alumni Hall, Room 400, 121 St. Joseph St. Noakes has previously All welcome. No registration required. worked with UNICEF Canada and Toronto Centre Rosedale Federal Liberal Riding Association. Celebrated Toronto-based stained glass artist Sarah Hall will give this year’s Christianity and the Arts lecture. She assumed her position PHOTO: STAINED GLASS: MICHAEL ELKAN Hall is one of North America's best-known stained glass artists, recently elected into the on January 5, taking on Royal Canadian Academy of Art, an honour achieved by only five Canadian glass artists in the many of the duties form- history of the Academy. She has produced some of the largest stained glass projects in North America, erly handled by Angela her current project consisting of 33 monumental windows based on the Doctors of the Church for Mazza, who, after nine St. Catharine of Siena in Columbus, Ohio. She has received numerous awards for outstanding liturgical art. years with the Alumni She is the author of The Color of Light: Commissioning Stained Glass for a Church (Liturgy Training Publications, Chicago 1999) Office, moved on to Wycliffe College. ! St. Michael’s Spring 2009 7
  • 8. GIVING Urbane Renewal 2 In Spring 2007, this magazine reported the planned renovations to the College’s historic houses on Elmsley Place. Here, thanks to photographer Darrylynn McDonald, some glimpses into the transformations. Elmsley House Donors ($500+) Susan Adam Metzler, Joanne S Belsito, Maureen Berry, Wanda A C Bielawski, Catherine Brayley, David G Broadhurst, John P P Brown, Robert G Burns, Jim Carson, Robert & Anne Cobham, J Paul & Nadine Condon, J Martha Cunningham, Lisa Damiani, F George Davitt, Guy P Di Tomaso, Daniel Driscoll, Michael K Dugan, Gerald A Flaherty, Bill & Anne Fox, Robert W Henry, Joseph C M James, Dalia I Jocys, Diane L Karnay, David & Elizabeth Kerr, Edward & Ann Kerwin, Lefebvre & Lefebvre LLP, Kenneth P Lefebvre, Hugh & Laura MacKinnon, The Right Hon Paul Martin, Erin Metzler, Frank & Helen Morneau, Gertrude Mulcahy, Edmond G Odette, Louis L & Patricia M Odette, Terrence J O'Sullivan, Paul T Quinlan, Lennard & Starr Rambusch, Alexander Reford, Rosanne T Rocchi, Sal & Sheila Sarraino, The Estate of Ian G Scott, Edward & Marisa Sorbara, Norman W Stefnitz, Louise Ruth Summerhill, Anne C Trousdale, The Estate of Charles W Trunk Jr, Edward T Unger, Bernard J Wiacek, Wilhelmina M Wiacek 3 Anonymous We also wish to thank all those donors who we are not able to list here because of the limited space. Your participation in this project is very much appreciated. 8 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 9. GIVING Tribute Celebrating faith, family and the many contributions of William Francis (Frank) Morneau K.C.S.G., K.G.C.H.S., D.Litt.S BY ANNE ANDERSON CSJ ON JANUARY 12, 2009, THE This Order is the highest recognition model. The important revision to our Mem- University of St. Mich- accorded to Catholic laypersons for service orandum of Agreement and sale of our Bay ael’s College regretfully to the Church. Street lands were but a few of the matters accepted the resignation of Frank Morneau as In addition to his substantial financial necessitating his attention, as well as the vital the Chair of its governing body, the Collegium. support of St. Michael's, Frank, as Chair of concerns around succession both at the Pres- Faith and family are the prime motivators the Collegium, devoted an enormous ident and Chairperson level. His efforts, in Frank's life. Nothing is more important amount of his time piloting the new Uni- internal and external, will benefit our stu- to him. While many people agree dents for generations to come. that these values are worth culti- Frank’s involvement with our vating, Frank lives them. His founding Basilian Fathers dates commitment to faith-based edu- back to his early days at Assump- cation is evident in the amount tion High School and St. of time he has devoted to his Michael’s College School. Their work for St. Michael’s. He has recognition of him was evident also been actively involved with through the University of St. the Archdiocese of Toronto as an Michael’s College with the grant- advisor to the Archbishop, and ing of a Honourary Doctorate in has provided leadership and 1996. From a career perspective, guidance for Providence Health- Frank has been a shareholder and care, Newman Centre, Knights Director of many private and and Ladies of the Holy Sepul- public companies, as well as char- chre, St. Augustine’s Seminary itable organizations. His main and many other organizations. employment achievement cen- Toronto Archbishop Thomas Frank Morneau and his wife, Helen, at their summer home on tered around his founding of W.F. Collins, Chancellor of the Uni- Georgian Bay with eleven of their twelve grandchildren. Morneau & Associates in 1966, versity of St. Michael’s College now known as Morneau Sobeco, notes that, “Frank Morneau is a truly versity of St. Michael’s Act through the a public entity with over 2,400 staff, on the devoted Catholic whose generous service has Ontario Legislature. This Act changed the Toronto Stock Exchange and functioning as been a great source of strength for the peo- governance of the University, legislating the Canada’s largest Human Resource Consult- ple of the Archdiocese of Toronto for many appointment of external representatives as ing and Actuarial Firm. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MORNEAU FAMILY years. His creative leadership of the St. well as representatives of the various con- In 2008, Frank moved to Honourary Michael's College Collegium has been of stituencies the College serves. Chair and Director of Morneau Sobeco and particular benefit to the whole Catholic His leadership at St. Michael’s was evident as of this January past, scaled back his many community which is served by the College.” from his initial involvement on our Finance charitable interests to devote more time to his In 1999 Frank was honoured by the Holy Committee dating back some eighteen years bride of 47 years, their five children and Father for his many services to the Catholic plus. He had significant involvement as twelve grandchildren. We wish him every joy community when he was appointed Knight Chair of the Collegium on many of its for- as he alters his life’s plan while continuing to Commander in the Order of St. Gregory. mative issues under our new governance care for others. ! St. Michael’s Spring 2009 9
  • 10. BOOK & MEDIA STUDIES From Gutenberg to Google SMC’s Book and Media Studies program attracts students to examine the media that carry the message BY PHILIP MARCHAND 6T9 ARSHALL MCLUHAN, THE CEL- ebrated St. Michael’s College professor, once stated that the medium was the mes- sage. His benign ghost—surely he still fre- quents the college he loved so much in life—is doubtless pleased to witness the suc- cess of the College’s Book and Media Studies (BMS) program. More to the point, stu- dents also love the program. Launched in 2002 as a minor College Academic Pro- gram, with thirteen enrolments, BMS is now a major program with 268 students from all across the Uof T campus. Nobody predicted this success. “When we launched this idea in the spring of 2002, we got some pretty strange looks,” recalls Mark McGowan, Principal of St. Michael’s College and head of the program. “‘Book history? Are you crazy? The book is dead.’” McGowan pauses and glances at his own office, full of books and documents. “These 10 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 11. PHOTOGRAPHY: RENÉE JACKSON St. Michael’s Spring 2009 11
  • 12. utenberg’s press was born perfect. He got it. may have been the same people who envi- and being able to learn about the books that when it comes right down to it, is give the sioned the paper-less office. In reality,” I love and knowing their history really attract- students context. Context is so important McGowan points out, “students find the ed me to the program,” she comments. for them—the fact, for example, that before book fascinating. They say things like, ‘I pre- Some of the students will enter the book 1850 the ordinary person couldn’t afford to fer to have something solid in my hand publishing industry after university—but buy a newspaper or a book. That comes as a when I’m reading, something that won’t Speirs emphasizes that the course is not a revelation to them.” crash.’” When Program Coordinator Dor- ‘how-to’ course in editing, or a form of cre- Speirs and such colleagues as Yannick othy Speirs asks students about their interest ative writing, or a literature course, or any- Portebois, who teaches a course on books in the program, many of them cite their love thing other than a study of books and other and reading, are building on a great intellec- of books as physical artefacts—the way they media of communication. “We don’t con- tual tradition at St. Michael’s College and the look, and feel, and smell. centrate on literature as literature, what we’re University of Toronto, a tradition begun by Somewhat to the surprise of Speirs, the looking at is the book and the manuscript as such pioneers in media studies as McLuhan students are not all from arts or history pro- artefacts,” comments Speirs. “We also put a and Harold Innis. Innis and McLuhan real- grams. Emily Yu, for example, a former par- great deal of emphasis on things like the evo- ized that various means of communication ticipant in BMS as well as a student in the lution of print and the printing press. It’s a had specific effects on users, quite apart from human biology program, is living indication kind of cultural and historical perspective, I the content of those means of communica- that bibliophiles can be found in scientific would say, more than a strictly literary per- tion. Nothing in Plato’s Republic, McLuhan disciplines. “I love to read in my spare time, spective. What we’re trying to do really, observed, was as important as the fact that 12 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 13. All artifacts shown on this page and other pages are from the St. Michael’s College collection of printing presses and moveable type. students, in a book culture, all had identical funny to see the students touch it gingerly, ing of invitations for the retirement dinner of editions of the Republic, with the same print- as if they’re going to break it,” Speirs adds. College President Richard Alway last June. ed paragraphs on the same page. This made The cast-iron thing is a brute—but in the Another McLuhan principle seems to be at Plato not only more accessible to students, eyes of Portebois it’s also a thing of beauty. work—yesterday’s technology becomes but encouraged the rise of linear thinking “I love these machines,” she says with feel- today’s art form. “It’s good for the College, and uniformity in general. ing. When asked why, she replies, “I love it’s good for the presidents and the students,” In the first floor of the St. Michael’s human ingenuity. When you look at these Portebois says of the work of the printing College library, I stand with Speirs and machines, some of them, their simplicity is room. “It makes everything unique.” Portebois beside a 19th-century printing absolutely beautiful. Gutenberg’s press was The BMS program deals with the con- press, a relatively simple mechanism not born perfect. He got it.” temporary scene as well as the past. that different from the 16th-century presses Not all of the presses in the St. Michael’s Journalist, author and Master of Massey that circulated Martin Luther’s writings library are museum pieces. In the “printing College, John Fraser, lectures on newspapers with unprecedented speed and so made room” on the second floor of the library are in Canadian society for the program and has possible the Protestant Reformation. The old hand presses and trays of moveable type taken students on field trips to the news- press weighs 6,000 pounds. “That thing is that have been used to print Christmas cards room of the Globe and Mail. Mark there forever,” Portebois says. “It’s not going for the Principal and the President of the McGowan teaches a course on “Broadcast to go anywhere.” (It is far too heavy to be College. These mechanisms have also been Media and Culture,” and “Religion, Media transported by elevators, for one thing.) “It’s used for special occasions, such as the print- and Culture,” the latter an overview of how St. Michael’s Spring 2009 13
  • 14. Labels on trays of moveable type specify point size and the name of the font. Typesetters kept trays holding capital letters in an upper case, trays of small letters in a lower case. religious groups have used the media, both Fulton J. Sheen, a star of early television and interesting ride, and our problem now is print and broadcast. The subject is of partic- winner of an Emmy Award in 1952. “Sheen that we just don’t have the resources to sus- ular interest to historians of the College—it was not only a very smart individual and a tain the growth,” McGowan comments. was a native of Hamilton, Ontario, and a St. great communicator, but he had that sense “The number of students from other col- Michael’s College graduate, Father Charles of the dramatic,” McGowan says. “He knew leges is phenomenal—so we really are serv- Coughlin, who became famous as the “radio how to use the new medium very effectively, ing the rest of the university and we’re doing priest” during the Great Depression, reach- by using a very simple set and by playing to it on a shoestring budget.” ing wide audiences with his political mes- the camera.” For the present, McGowan helps to sage and forceful delivery. (Unfortunately, Listening to Portebois and McGowan sustain the program by engaging in what his message was heavily tainted with anti- discuss the fascinating historical details of he calls “old fashioned horse trading” with Semitism, unsolicited political diatribes, and their subject—whether those details have to sympathetic university departments, denunciations of Franklin D. Roosevelt, do with 19th-century French periodicals or notably French and Italian. Any further much to the chagrin of the American bish- 1950s American network television—an growth in the program, under these cir- ops and the Vatican.) Protestant televange- outsider can well understand why the BMS cumstances, will come slowly—but it is lists may dominate the religious airwaves program is popular with students. The prob- unthinkable that a program of such vitali- now, but they learned their lessons in the lem, aggravated by the current economic cli- ty, and with such connections to the use of broadcast media from such Catholic mate, is to sustain this interest with adequate College’s intellectual traditions, will wither virtuosos as Father Coughlin and Bishop funds for the program. “It’s been a really from lack of funds.! 14 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 15. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION A Cool One Alumni offer a refresher course—in beer BY STEVEN WILLIAMS 9T4, PRESIDENT, USMC ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD ON MAY 6, THE USMC ALUMNI 1993, when European Union laws superseded Association Events Committee it, the Reinheitsgebot limited German brewers will hold a beer tasting for to only three ingredients: barley, hops and alumni and friends at the Mill Street Brewery in water. What most people don’t know, though, Toronto’s historic Distillery District. Join us for is that the original intent was not to keep the a tour of the brewery, led by Mill Street’s staff, beer pure. It was to prevent brewers from using followed by a tasting and hors d'oeuvres. Those grains good for baking bread—more buns but with a passion for the flavour of barley and hops, fewer cheers. bring your best stein and prepare to sample the Beer Tasting and Tour of the Brewery at the finest craft lagers and ales. Want to show off? Mill Steet Brewery at 6 pm, $45 per person. For Drop this little tidbit about Germany’s famous information and registration please call the Purity Law, the Reinheitsgebot (RINE-hites-gue- Office of Alumni Affairs at 416-926-7260. Book bote.) Enacted in 1516 and strictly enforced until now, before it’s too late. ! UPCOMING ALUMNI EVENTS Christianity & the Arts Special Spring Reunion Lecture 1-3 pm Annual Lecture by His Grace Thomas Collins, Spring Reunion Lecture by His Grace Thomas May 29 - 31, 2009 The Language of Stained Glass Archbishop of Toronto, Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, FRIDAY, MAY 29 Glass artist Sarah Hall, RCA Chancellor, USMC Chancellor, USMC 11 am Wednesday, April 15, 2009, 7:30 pm The Catholic University (See details two columns to the left) Class of 5T9 50th Anniversary Mass Alumni Hall, Room 400 in the 21st Century 6:30 pm St. Michael’s College Chapel 121 St. Joseph St Saturday, May 30, 2009, 1 pm Honoured Years’ Cocktail Reception (below St. Basil’s Church) (For more details, see page 7). Charbonnel Lounge Odette Lounge, Brennan Hall 12 noon All welcome. No registration required 81 St. Mary Street 7:30 pm Class of 5T9 50th Anniversary Lunch All welcome. Registration: 416-926-2255 Honoured Years’ Dinner Charbonnel Lounge Alumni Association Gourmet Event Sam Sorbara Auditorium, 81 St. Mary Street Beer Tasting & Brewery Tour 400th Anniversary Celebration Brennan Hall 1:45 pm Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 6 pm of the Loretto Sisters 9:30-11 pm The Donovan Art Collection Tour Mill St. Brewery, Distillery District Corporate Responsibility Workshop After Dinner Reception 7 pm 65 Mill St., Building 63 Saturday, September 26, 2009 St. Michael’s College Alumni Toronto, ON 9:00 am - 5:00 pm SUNDAY, MAY 31 Association Annual General Meeting Registration: 416-926-7260 Sponsored by the Sisters of Loretto 11 am Sam Sorbara Auditorium, Brennan Hall Cost: $45 and USMC Continuing Education All Alumni Mass 8 pm-12 am For more details: Angela Convertini, St. Michael’s College Chapel All Alumni Reception Annual Book Sale 416-925-2833 or at maryeileendonovan (below St. Basil’s Church) Odette Lounge, Brennan Hall John M. Kelly Library @rogers.com 12 noon Tuesday to Saturday Complimentary Brunch SATURDAY, MAY 30 October 27 – 31, 2009 Sam Sorbara Auditorium, 12 noon For more details, email Brennan Hall Campus Tour usmc.booksale@utoronto.ca Charbonnel Lounge, 81 St. Mary St. For information on alumni events, please call Eva at 416-926-7260 or visit our website at www.utoronto.ca/stmikes --St. Michael’s Spring 2009 15
  • 16. COVER STORY Gardens of the Mind A former SMC Dean of Students masterminds top garden design showcase on the St. Lawrence BY CHARLES OBERDORF W HAT THESE PAGES SHOW ARE NOT WHAT MOST PEOPLE in his great-grandmother’s garden into a full-time position as its direc- would call gardens, but all of them were created by tor. He quit St. Michael’s and in early 1995 moved to Métis. young garden designers in response to basic questions Three years later, touring a garden festival in Chaumont-sur-Loire, about the garden. Is it a place to look inward or outward? A place of in France, a light went on for him. At the time, Reford Gardens had stillness or movement? Part of nature world or an alternative to it? A a relationship with the University of Montreal’s summer school in stimulus for the eye, the ear, the body? landscape and garden design. Reford had seen how hard it was for stu- Each year for the last nine years, between eight and 15 small gar- dents to get any of their work built, especially ideas that pushed the dens like these have constituted the International Garden Festival at envelope. A festival like the one in France would give some of them, the Jardins de Métis (a.k.a. Reford Gardens) on the St. Lawrence and other young designers, a chance to show their stuff. River about 270 km northeast of Québec City. The person most It would also give Reford Gardens greater visibility and encourage responsible for the festival is an alumnus of St. Michael’s—even, for people to come back. This last was important. About 85 percent of eight years, a Dean of Students, Alexander Reford 8T4. its visitors come from inside Québec; most of them sum- Reford looked so young in 1987, when he became mer in the region every year. Getting them to make dean—he was working on his Masters in History–that repeat visits would be as remunerative as attracting new some called him the “Teen of St. Michael’s.” Young or visitors–and easier. not, he remained dean for eight years, meanwhile work- Now in its tenth year, the International Garden ing toward a doctorate and writing for the Dictionary of Festival has so far showcased 75 gardens by approximate- Canadian Biography (DCB). ly 200 designers from nine countries. By last December, He was actually researching a DCB entry about a dis- 127 design teams had entered proposals for this year’s fes- tant ancestor when, in a family archive, he discovered a tival. Winners get six weeks to create their gardens and a Alexander Reford trove of material about his great-grandmother’s vast budget of $25,000 —$5,000 for the design and $10,000 flower gardens in Métis, Québec, where his ancestors had once each for materials and labour. After one summer, or possibly two, owned a salmon fishing camp with a 37-room “lodge” for themselves each plot must be returned to its original condition. (Those con- and their guests. Reford decided to go to Métis, to see the gardens straints alone rule out the use of most garden staples, such as flower- himself and possibly write a book about them. ing shrubs or perennials.) As for visibility, some design teams have Reford Gardens is still very much what most people imagine a great been asked to recreate their festival gardens at similar events in garden to be. Elsie Reford created its 40 acres of flowerbeds and bor- Canada, France, Italy and the U.K. In December, a book about the ders starting just after World War I. In 1952, when she was 82, she Festival was the lead item in a New York Times roundup review of the gave the property to her son Bruce, Alex’s grandfather, but he was most interesting garden books of 2008. unable to maintain the gardens. So, retaining a riverfront farm on the Alex Reford says that his time at St. Michael’s gave him some property, he put the lodge and gardens up for sale. The province preparation for his life today. As Dean of Students, he had some bought them and opened them to the public as a tourist attraction. responsibility for the grounds around the residences, though he’s Alex Reford had visited Métis two or three times, but as a child. quick to admit that he was never a hands-on gardener like the (After his grandfather sold them, he says, they took on “a sort of College’s aptly named Fr. Gardner, not to mention those two other ‘Paradise Lost’ quality” in the family.) Now, seeing them for the first avid trowel-wielders, Fr. Scollard and Fr. McConica. time as an adult, he learned that they might be lost again. The Where the College probably prepared him best, though, he thinks, province had been losing $300,000 a year on them and was thinking was in its sharply contrasting seasons. “The gardens are the exact of selling them, possibly to a developer. inverse of the campus,” he says. “St. Michael’s was very intensive from Together with two family members and the nonprofit group that September to May, and then nothing. At Métis, it’s just the opposite. had been running the gardens’ restaurant, museum and gift shop, But in that way, the two environments are really very similar.” Reford quickly formed a foundation and wrote a business plan to pro- Alex Reford is not allowed to have favourites among the festival pose to the government. In just over a year, between August 1993 and gardens, but he agreed to identify several he felt were remarkable for September 1994, he turned what began as a vague academic interest different reasons. The comments about them are his. 16 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 17. Core Sample North Design Office (Pete and Alissa North), Toronto, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Pete and Alissa are young practitioners of landscape architecture and teach land- scape architecture at UofT. They created an elegant garden inspired by the core samples from mining and geology, evoking one of the motives that led to the exploration of eastern Quebec (by geologists William Dawson and William Logan). 100 tubes sampled the local environment, each PHOTO : 2006, LOUISE TANGUAY, JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS one stuffed with a sampling of the landscape, stones, cones, leaves, seeds and so on. Interspersed with berms, the site came to life as visitors ambled through the vertical forest, intrigued by the contents and seduced by the effect of the sunlight traversing the tubes. St. Michael’s Spring 2009 17
  • 18. Sous-terrain de jeu Cédule 40, Chicoutimi, Québec, 2005, 2006 and 2007 This group of young visual artists from Chicoutimi creat- ed a space where the visitors themselves would plant the garden—not with a trowel and soil, but by interacting and using the over-sized swing. The movement of the visitors on the swing (and their enthusiastic enjoyment of same) sprinkled seed into the beds below, essentially planting the garden that came to life as the summer progressed. The contemporary garden is no longer a contem- plative space, but an interac- tive environment, where the visitor is as much a part of the garden as the gardener. 18 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 19. Une semaine au potager Michel Boulcourt, France, 2001 The vegetable garden is the most familiar garden form, and one with which even the least adventurous of garden- ers has some familiarity. It is difficult to be innovative with vegetables—but this French designer showed how—creat- ing a garden that was at once productive and aesthetic. Vis- PHOTOGRAPHY: PAGE 18: © 2007, MICHEL LAVERDIERE JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS; PAGE 19: © 2001, MICHEL LAVERDIERE JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS itors toured a garden divided into seven spaces (one for each day of the week), each of which used painted wheel- barrows as the planting beds. Each barrow was planted with different edible plants (herbs and vegetables), care- fully chosen to be of the same colour as the wheelbarrow, thereby creating seven chro- matically organized spaces in perfect harmony. The garden was thus illustrative of the French tradition of ornamen- tal gardens, where botany and agriculture are perfectly combined to create a beauti- ful (and flavourful) garden. St. Michael’s Spring 2009 19
  • 20. Blue Stick Garden Claude Cormier, Montréal, 2000 (it is coming back in 2009) This garden of 2700 blue and orange painted sticks has become one of the iconic sym- bols of contemporary garden design. It is anchored on the principles of garden design, and more specifically the English or mixed border, but uses sticks to provide height and colour. Replacing perennial plants with blue sticks, it is a PHOTOGRAPHY: PAGE 20: © 2000, LOUISE TANGUAY, JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS; PAGE 21: © 2007, MICHEL LAVERDIERE JARDINS DE MÉTIS/REFORD GARDENS very contemporary, some might say iconoclastic, gesture, partic- ularly because the design was inspired by Gertrude Jeykll (a popular figure from the Edwardian period of garden design) and my own great- grandmother, Elsie Reford, neither of whom would have quot;approved.quot; Many visitors had the same reaction, but through colour and imagination the designer fomented debate, and the garden has grown in acceptability and popularity— even after its demolition. We later presented it at Canada Blooms, at a Luytens-Jekyll garden in the UK, Hestercombe, at a garden show in Montreal and are re-presenting it this summer as a centrepiece of our 10th anniversary celebrations. 20 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 21. Le Jardin des Hespérides Cao Perrot Studios (Andy Cao and Xavier Perrot) USA and France, 2006, 2007 This garden was inspired by the quiet colours and forms of Vietnam, with a giant lan- tern at the centre of a quiet pond. The lantern was saffron coloured, like the robes of Buddhist monks, and provid- ed remarkable reflections in the surrounding pool. Visitors traversed the pool and the lantern, balancing on the hidden steps and seemingly floating on the pond. Looking up, visitors could see the blue sky framed by the oculus of the lantern. The effects were multiple and the incorpora- tion of such exotic materials and plants (orange trees) in the boreal forest was magical. St. Michael’s Spring 2009 21
  • 22. ALUMNI PORTRAIT Triathlons, Drum Sets and the Quest for God The surprising dimensions of Research in Motion’s Chief Operating Officer BY GRAHAM F. SCOTT L OTS OF SENIOR EXECUTIVES ARE REQUIRED TO CARRY A BLACK- Morrison was born and raised in Toronto, and attended Holy Berry smartphone. Don Morrison 7T5 carries three: one for Rosary Church in Forest Hill. He went to St. Michael’s High School, checking email and making calls, and two just for testing. where he says he was not exactly an academic stand-out: “I’m sure I It’s important for Morrison to know every inch of the popular would have been voted least likely to succeed when I was graduating gadgets; after all, the St. Michael’s College grad is Chief Operating from high school,” he says now, laughing; “I probably set a record for Officer of the BlackBerry division at Waterloo-based Research in the number of consecutive years in summer school.” But he was Motion, and he’s responsible for the smooth operation of the sales determined to come to Uof T, and St. Michael’s College in particular. network that sells the addictive little devices in 150 countries To do that, he was going to have to bring his average up to 70 per worldwide. cent. His Grade 13 math teacher, “a really “I don’t think you could be part of RIM tough Basilian” named Father Maurice without a BlackBerry,” he says. It’s a big job, (Mo)Whelan, agreed to give him a high at a big company, and it demands a lot from “Both sides of this enough mark as long as Morrison made him him. But while he enjoys the hectic pace, the a promise to “never take math again.” international travel, having to keep an eye on coin—diligent worker, And he didn’t—not at first anyway. dozens of different projects at once, and the Not knowing exactly what he wanted to high expectations that come with the job, he devout believer—were do, Morrison dabbled in a variety of sub- is also deeply spiritual, committed to silence, jects in his first year at St. Mike’s. It was contemplation, and prayer. Both sides of this coin—diligent worker, devout believer— minted, in part, at during his second and third years that he blossomed academically, enrolling in were minted, in part, at St. Michael’s College. The years since Morrison became COO St. Michael’s College.” subjects that had fascinated him as a teenager—comparative religion, theology, in 2000 have been extraordinary for the com- philosophy and logic. pany: Revenues have surged from $85 million to over $6 billion; the The College’s Registrar at the time, Father Harry Gardner, number of phone companies offering BlackBerry service jumped made a strong impact on the young Morrison. “Here’s this young from four to more than 400; and the number of BlackBerrys in use kid, who was lazy and didn’t know if he was any good, and maybe worldwide exploded from a few thousand to 14 million. didn’t even know if he was smart, and the Registrar at St. Michael’s While he always gets to play with the latest versions of the gad- College takes him under his wing, gives him a job, doesn’t molly- get, Morrison says he’s not particularly tech-savvy himself. His job coddle him, but treats him with respect, and has expectations that isn’t about tinkering in the lab; he’s responsible for everything it takes put him in a position of responsibility,” says Morrison. “That’s to get a BlackBerry from the factory into your hands, including sales, what Fr. Gardner did for me. As I was approaching adulthood, he marketing and carrier agreements. was really the first person, who truly believed in me outside of my “You have to get accustomed to doing 40 to 50 different things a own family.” day,” he says of his position. He has plenty of experience in telecom- Fr. Gardner advised Morrison to pick his professors first and cours- munications, having worked for Bell Canada and AT&T for almost es later, an approach that led him to a startling discovery—that learn- his entire career before 2000, shuttling back and forth between the ing could actually be fun. (Ultimately, he broke his promise to Fr. two phone giants in various executive roles. Whelan, by taking calculus while doing his MBA degree in 1981.) 22 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s
  • 23. Morrison was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity Morrison likes to write and speak about spirituality, although he while at UofT, but wasn’t heavily involved in extracurriculars. “I was is not an evangelizer and rejects the notion that he has any definitive a real loner,” he says. That was partly a function of his deep interest in answers. He talks authoritatively and knowledgeably about theology his religion. “If you’re studying spirituality and mysticism—and you’re and the Church, but stresses that his only hope is to be an honest in it not so much for the ideas, but you’re in it because you’re fasci- example to others. flaws and all. “I see myself as pointing at some- nated by the experience—by definition you have to spend a lot of thing, and not judging other people for whether they do something time alone,” he adds. “It’s not that you have to, it’s that you want to.” or don’t. As saying, ‘This is something that is worthy of your atten- That interest in spirituality and faith has remained a constant in tion. For your own sake, you owe it to yourself to explore this and his life. “Since I was about 16 years old, I was absolutely fascinated think about it and understand it.’” by the stories of Christian saints, and then stories of other people Some see these parts of Morrison’s life—jet-setting high-tech who had had an intention and a hunger to know and understand executive and religious devotee—as incompatible, but he believes God in this life, experientially,” Morrison says. “And so I decided to it’s just the opposite. All the things that he gets from his faith— make that the principal focus of my studies in university. And it is such as a solid moral code, intentionality, commitment—also con- still the single-most important driving need and interest that I con- tribute to his success in business, he believes. “The Christian part tinue to have today.” and the faith part are not antithetical to success,” he says, “but are actually the underpinnings of success.”Morrison recently turned 56, and having spent the first part of his professional life bouncing back and forth between Bell and AT&T, he’s happy with his role at Research in Motion. “This is it,” he says. He intends to stick with RIM for the long haul, and, as one friend, Sporting Life Pres- ident David Russell, joked to him, “go out with my boots on.” Though he could settle comfortably into the senior position, working at a high-tech company like RIM keeps him on his toes. Partly, it’s neces- sary for his job—selling the latest bells and whis- tles to demanding young customers who want all the latest features in their gadgets—but it’s also his natural personality. He’s preparing to run his first triathlon this year, for instance. He still practices the drumming he took up as a teenager, and keeps three drum sets at home. His preferences lean towards the classic rock of the 1960s and later: “Led Zepplin, Blood Sweat and Tears, Jimi Hendrix, that sort of thing.” He and his son, John, 22, co-own a music store, Criminal Records, on Toronto’s trendy Queen West strip, and he talks with enthusiasm about his son’s budding career as a DJ and musician. In contrast, Morrison’s daughter, Heather, 26, is the country mouse of the family, and lives on the Muskoka river: “Very much an outdoors person,” Morrison says. “Family’s still number one,” he says of his children and his wife Debbie, his high school sweetheart who now helps him run their charita- ble foundation. “If you want to see what’s impor- tant in people’s lives, look at how they make choices about how they spend their time.” ! St. Michael’s Spring 2009 23
  • 24. CONTINUING EDUCATION Tending the Flock Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programs encourage children to find their own way to God BY AMY STUPAVSKY PHOTO: AMY STUPAVSKY Kathleen Ennis, Toronto coordinator of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, with some of the teaching tools in the Atrium. 24 Spring 2009 St. Michael’s