Dr. Susan Cooley, director of Seton Hill’s Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) graduate program, took six MFT students to her hometown of New Orleans to work with Renewing Hope In New Orleans (RHINO) from March 3 - 10. While there, the group worked on homes damaged in 2005 during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and had the opportunity to meet several of the homeowners, currently living in FEMA trailers. Seton Hill’s Graduate Advisory Council named these students 2007 Outstanding Graduate Students for their work in New Orleans, and for participating in a longitudinal study of the impact of this humanitarian work on both their personal and professional development as Marriage and Family Therapists. Students who participated in the New Orleans Project are: David J. Deckard, Beth Jehn, Denise M. Jewell, Faith L. Lesniak, Christine Walters-Sherman, Kerry A. Zellner.

Twenty students and three SHU staff members volunteered for Campus Ministry’s annual Habitat for Humanity Spring Break Trip, coordinated by Cindy Boland, director of Campus Ministry. From March 4 - 10, the SHU group worked on five different homes in Birmingham, Alabama, doing everything from painting to hauling drywall to helping to install roofs. Participating students and SHU staff were: Darren Achtzehn, Becky Bayer, April Beere, Samantha Boden, Cindy Boland, Caitlin Callahan, Mary Clark, Andrea Denniston, Michelle Gailey, Sean Garrity, Meredith Harber, Sue Myers, Kelsey Patsch, Rachel Ramsey, A.J. Schell, Nicole Stasik, Jaimie Steel, Katrina Stokum, Lauren Wassil, Andy LoNigro, Emily Gearheart, Scott Karan, and Krista Lawson.

Seton Hill University’s Education Club headed to rural eastern Kentucky to participate in the Christian Appalachian Project’s WorkFest 2007. From March 5 - 9, the Seton Hill group, advised by Seton Hill Assistant Professor of Education Dr. Joann Migyanka, replaced siding, repaired roofs and provided other household repairs in Owsley and Clay Counties in Kentucky. SHU Workfest 2007 participants were: Lindena Brace, Tiffany Brattina, Doug Deckert, Stephanie Hilt, Joann Migyanka, Paul Migyanka, Lorin Schumacher, Julianne Sproull, and Kristen Zapalla.