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Saint Leo’s nursing program receives funding to grow experiential learning.

Confronting the world’s challenges through service to others is a key part of Saint Leo University’s mission. Now, as Florida and the Tampa area face a grave shortage of nurses, Saint Leo is set to meet the health care needs of the community through its Bachelor of Science in nursing program.

In Fall 2023, students will begin their junior year in the core nursing program classes. By the end of its first five years of operation, Saint Leo’s program is expected to add nearly 200 nurses to the workforce.

Not only did the university recognize the need for nurses when it launched the bachelor’s degree in 2021, but so did the Florida Legislature, Governor Ron DeSantis, area health care and government leaders, and several generous donors. They have provided additional funds to build the program and create learning spaces for the future health professionals.

The state of Florida’s 2023-2024 budget includes an appropriation that will provide the university with $740,000 next year to develop the program and address the critical nursing shortage. More than $500,000 has been raised from private donations, bringing the total raised for the nursing program to $1.2 million.

Rendering of the Nursing Clinical Skills Lab
Funds from the state of Florida and private donors will be used in part to build an experiential learning space on the second floor of Benedictine Hall. Architectural renderings show how the space will provide classrooms and simulated learning areas.

“The graduates from the Saint Leo nursing program will directly impact population health in the state by providing safe, compassionate care all while utilizing best practices and current innovations,” wrote Dr. Robin McGuinness, senior executive officer/chief nurse executive for AdventHealth’s West Florida Division, in a letter of support. In the Spring 2024 Semester, nursing students will partner with AdventHealth Zephyrhills.

With the rapid growth of Pasco County, FL, where University Campus is located, Pasco Economic Development Council President/CEO Bill Cronin noted, “In one of our greatest areas of need — health care — it is especially clear that we need our education partners to step up and produce the talent needed for our hospitals and other health care providers to thrive.”

Group photo of the university’s inaugural class of juniors pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing this fall.
Nursing Program Chair Dr. Deb Peterson, pictured in the front row on the right, led an orientation for the university’s inaugural class of juniors pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing.

Students entering Saint Leo’s program must have a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher. Then, in order to be accepted into the junior nursing degree major for Fall 2023, they had to complete their first two years of liberal arts courses as well as the nursing requirements, including sciences and math. In Spring Semester 2023, they had to have a minimum 3.3 GPA in college courses and pass the standardized ATI Test of Essential Academic Skills to apply to become official nursing majors, said Dr. Deb Peterson, chair of the Department of Nursing.

“Finally, they get to take their first nursing course, beginning to examine the culture of health, what is a nurse, what does a nurse do, and how to begin to use clinical judgment to safely and effectively care for people,” Peterson said. “There are four themes embedded in all courses: evidence-based practice, interprofessional communication, culture of health, and clinician well-being.”

Rendering of the Nursing Simulator
This architectural rendering shows a simulated learning area.

For students and faculty, the exciting part begins in the fall with hands-on learning. “That’s what the students are waiting for,” Peterson said. “The juniors will begin learning in the skills and simulation labs and will go to a clinical setting.” This will include Blue Heron Senior Living in nearby Wesley Chapel, FL.

In the fall, the nursing program will use space in the Daniel A. Cannon Memorial Library, but it eventually will be housed on the second floor of Benedictine Hall. There, Saint Leo will provide a fully renovated nursing floor where students will encounter real-life scenarios in labs, classrooms, and simulated-learning areas.

John Picciano, a Saint Leo University trustee and member of the Class of 1969, recently donated $127,735 to the university’s Bachelor of Science in nursing program and to help with construction during the university’s annual giving day to bring total dollars raised from $372,265 to $500,000.

“Nursing changes the lives of others, and I hope others will support Saint Leo’s program, help it to grow, innovate, and graduate caring and competent nurses,” said Picciano, CEO of Oglethorpe Inc.


Support Saint Leo’s Nursing Program

More support is needed to grow the university’s bachelor’s degree program in nursing. Donations may be made by selecting Nursing Excellence Fund at your.saintleo.edu/give.

Ms. Basketball, Christina Granville ’13

Event host. Influencer. Model. Actor. Radio personality. Esports announcer. Brand ambassador. Professor. Reality TV star. Nonprofit founder. Ms. Basketball. Christina Granville ’13 boasts all of those titles on her résumé and more. The Saint Leo alumna is a multi-hyphenate who does it all. “I’m all things good energy,” Granville said with a laugh.

 One of 10 children, Granville grew up in Clewiston, FL. As the “caboose” of her family, she found role models in her parents — dad Theodore is 94 and a pastor, and mom Catherine is 78 and a retired teacher. 

Her love of basketball came from watching her big brother play. “I wanted to be just like him,” Granville said. “It was church every night, and then watching my brother play. I was 9 or 10, and I never looked back. There was an article written about me when I was young, and I said I wanted to be the first female in the NBA! Of course, I was going to be in the WNBA; I was going to be the next Lisa Leslie.”

Dream Deferred

Granville was recruited to play basketball and attend college at Independence Community College in Kansas. “My thought was that I wanted to get away [from Florida],” Granville said. She had a few scholarship offers, but a guidance counselor steered her to Independence. 

After making a 24-hour trip in her purple 1994 Honda Civic to Kansas, “the coach tells me I’m not good enough and red-shirted me,” she said, dashing her hopes of playing that year. 

Granville was devastated at the prospect of not playing college basketball and pursuing a career in the WNBA. “I thought if I couldn’t play basketball, then I don’t want to go to college,” she said. 

She moved to Orlando and left the community college. There, Granville began brand ambassador work. “I got my first job for 7-Eleven, going to various college campuses handing out 7-Eleven coupons for $25 an hour. But I was missing basketball.”

So she played pick-up games and in summer leagues around the city. With her glamorous looks — makeup on and nails done — and her loudness on the court, she gained the attention of an agent at the age of 24. She told him she had given up her dream of playing for the WNBA or professionally overseas.

The agent told Granville if she was serious about playing basketball, she needed to go to college, and he secured tryouts for several teams, including Jefferson College in Missouri. “It had to be God as I had the best tryout of my life,” she said. 

Soon, Granville was on the court again. During her two years at Jefferson, she hit the “reset button,” serving as captain of the women’s basketball team and breaking a school record with 22 rebounds in one game. 

Her coach told her she should look at Saint Leo University, a “really good, private school” where she could get a full scholarship to play in Division II, while earning her degree closer to home. 

Granville fell in love with Saint Leo on her first visit to campus. “I really got a chance to be myself at Saint Leo,” she said. “I was 26 or 27, older than all of my teammates. I wasn’t the stereotypical basketball player. But I felt at home. I still have friends from Saint Leo.”

Christina Granville playing basketball for Saint Leo.
Christina Granville played two seasons for the Saint Leo University Lions, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.
Life at Leo
Christina Granville and her teammates during a Saint Leo University basketball game.
Christina Granville, No. 15, and her teammates unite during a game at the Marion Bowman Activities Center.

At first, Granville thought she would major in marketing, since she already was selling and marketing products as a brand ambassador. Her academic advisor gave her a “road map” for her future, helping her take courses she needed to graduate on time. 

She realized that a bachelor’s degree in management suited her, and she found her professors to be positive and encouraging. 

Granville choked up as she recalled her time at the university. “The opportunity to be at Saint Leo and play the game I love meant so much to me,” she said. “It was not only my teammates, but the support of the community and fans coming out.” 

Saint Leo provided her with a foundation to help build her career. “I learned it’s OK to go back and start over. You’re never too old to live out your dreams,” Granville said. 

On the Mic

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Granville began entertaining in elementary school. “I have a big personality,” she said, which many would say is an understatement. As a brand ambassador, Granville picked up the microphone to start driving sales. 

She recorded herself, creating hosting reels in order to obtain work hosting events and shows. “I started getting more and more gigs, and I documented it on social media, gaining followers,” she said.

Moving to Atlanta in 2013, Granville’s career took off. She appeared in Ride Along 2, Tyler Perry’s: The Have’s & Have Nots, and Dating In Atlanta: The Movie; graced more than 50 fashion show runways; hosted major events at the Essence Festival, NCAA Final Four, NCAA Football Championship, Black Enterprise Entrepreneurship Summit, and the 2023 Super Bowl; and became an Atlanta radio show host. 

Now, she hosts the esports NBA 2K League and added “professor” to her resume, teaching esports team management at Morris Brown College. In addition to teaching and hosting events, Granville also is a guest correspondent for WAGA-TV, Fox 5, Atlanta. 

Hosting the NBA esports program is exciting for Granville. “When I came into the NBA 2K League community there was only one African American woman in broadcast. I want to encourage people who look like me to get into this space and take full advantage of all of these opportunities. There is room for you!” 

Fulfilling Others’ Dreams

Granville has not forgotten her first love: basketball. On her website, Ms. Basketball — her MySpace handle from back in the day — her mission statement is to encourage others “to keep hooping no matter your size, race, or age.”

She started the I Hoop Too Foundation, which focuses on personal development, education, and health and wellness programs for girls and the community. Her foundation provides summer camps, mentoring programs, coat and food drives, breast cancer awareness events, and scholarships so others can pursue higher education, following in her path. 

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“I literally have been blessed at every level,” she said. “It keeps getting better and better. I want my life to be motivation to others to not give up on their dreams.”

Colin Bryant ’15

Sometimes dreams change. For alumnus Colin Bryant, his dreams of a pro basketball career were dashed by an injury. But now Bryant is a highly successful sports agent and executive, who not only helps college basketball players go on to play professionally, he also prepares them for life.

Colin Bryant and Antonio Daniels at their high school graduation

Helping young people succeed is Bryant’s mission in his career and in his life. Bryant earned his Master of Business Administration degree with a specialization in sport business in 2015, fulfilling a promise to his parents. He left college as an undergraduate to help his friend, NBA broadcaster and former player Antonio Daniels, when Daniels was drafted by the then-Vancouver Grizzlies. With that experience, he became a certified sports agent, but he also completed his degrees.

Bryant and Daniels were childhood friends growing up in Columbus, Ohio, playing basketball at St. Francis DeSales High School, a Catholic school in Columbus. “Growing up in Columbus, Antonio was my best friend,” Bryant said. “We played all the time with dreams of going to the NBA. We were on track for our dreams to come true.”

Bryant played basketball for California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Both skilled players, Daniels earned a scholarship to Bowling Green State University in Ohio, while Bryant earned a full-ride basketball scholarship to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. But Bryant’s dream was derailed by a hip injury and a broken jaw his senior year at Cal Poly. “At the time, I was maybe a year shy of getting my degree,” he said.

Instead, Daniels was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the fourth overall pick of the 1997 NBA draft. It was for Bryant, the “opportunity of a lifetime to help him. He wanted me to come.”

Daniels, now the color analyst for the New Orleans Pelicans, said he has been through “heaven and hell” with Bryant. “The Lord has blessed us to evolve together inside each other’s lives,” Daniels said.

Bryant accompanied high school friend, Antonio Daniels to Vancouver and became a sports agent.

Bryant dropped out of Cal Poly and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, accompanying his friend. “He signed a three-year, $8 million contract,” Bryant said of Daniels. “We were 22 years old, and off to fend for ourselves.”

While Daniels had one of the top sports agents at the time, he did not receive attention, and Bryant took over that role. He began marketing Daniels, and thought, “‘this could be something that I could do.’”

By end of the rookie year, Daniels was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in Texas. “That was a blessing in disguise for both of us,” Bryant said. “He went from the worst team in the league to winning the 1999 NBA championship.”

Bryant learned the business of the NBA from Spurs management and players, including Gregg Popovich, R.C. Buford, David Robinson, and Tim Duncan, and he eventually was certified as an NBA agent.

But Bryant never forgot the promise he made to his mother and father about completing his degree. He said, “Although I was practicing in the industry, I made it a priority to pursue my education.”

He enrolled at the University of Texas-San Antonio and completed a semester. Then Daniels was traded to the Portland Trailblazers. Due to the rigors of his career and travel schedule, it was impossible to be in the classroom, so Bryant decided to focus on his blossoming career. During this time, he signed more players, including Raymond Felton, Damian Wilkins, Acie Law, and his biggest client Rashard Lewis, whom he negotiated a $100 million-plus deal with the Orlando Magic.

“But through it all, that promise I made and the desire to get a degree was always on my mind. I felt empty,” Bryant said. “Although, I was achieving at a high level, I knew I could do so much more.”

Bryant and his daughter, Bella

In 2011 he was inspired by the birth of his daughter Bella. “I took my role as a father seriously,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a hypocrite and push education when I hadn’t completed my degree. I wanted to be someone she  could look up to.”

As online education became more prevalent, Bryant completed his degree in management from the University of Phoenix. “But I had a thirst for more knowledge,” Bryant said. “I became more comfortable with online learning and better appreciated the value in the convenience that it afforded me. I had the hands-on experience [as a sports agent], but I wanted to add technical knowledge, case studies, and I was looking for the best school to attend.” He was impressed by Saint Leo’s curriculum, and the enrollment process was easy, but it was a busy time in his career and life.

Miami Heat’s Rashard Lewis and Bryant at the 2013 NBA National Championship

At the time, Lewis was playing for the Miami Heat with Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. “I was studying on airplanes, in hotels, after games, and anywhere I could,” Bryant said of his Saint Leo studies. “I was a young father with a lot of responsibility, but I was committed to my studies at Saint Leo. I had late nights and early mornings. But I also had the support from my teachers and classmates. It was the community that I needed to fulfill my dreams.”

Bryant understood that earning his MBA with a sport business specialization was a way to sharpen his blade, add skills, and meet personal goals. “It makes me more efficient as an agent, a businessman, and an entrepreneur,” he said.

He completed his last 40-page paper after attending the NBA draft, rushing back to his hotel to finish it. “I earned this degree!” he said. “I have achieved a lot, but this was one achievement that I hold close to my heart and that brings me a strong sense of pride. I framed my degree right away.”

Bryant earned his MBA-sport business degree from Saint Leo.

Bryant said Saint Leo improved his skills in communicating online with people around the world and working with others in business settings. “It was preparing me for pandemic life, five years later,” he said with a laugh. “I was connecting with people all over the world. I’m glad I got a chance to do it later in life and appreciate the information I learned. It helped to further develop my 40-year-old executive mindset.”

Daniels said Bryant’s greatest attributes are his work ethic and attitude. “Even though things have not always gone his way, he has not stopped working,” the NBA broadcaster said. “Most people would quit. He has bent, but he has never broken.”

Bryant working as an agent.

Now, Bryant is the president of Max Deal Sports, a full-service sports management firm in Houston, Texas. In his role, he helps players navigate the world of professional basketball, preparing them for futures on and off the court. He talks to players and tells them it’s never too late to complete their degrees. “Basketball has an expiration date,” Bryant said. “You have to prepare for life after.”

He cites some of the players he represents, who have earned their degrees including Aric Holman (Mississippi State), Jordan Bone (Tennessee), and Jordan Bowden (Tennessee). He also represents Simi Shittu, who left Vanderbilt University after his freshmen year and is in the process of finishing his degree while playing professional basketball in Israel.
He gives back to the community by coaching Bella’s team and hosting a summer youth basketball camp with Daniels.

Bryant hosting a summer youth basketball camp.

Bryant gives back to his community and focuses on the next generation by coaching his daughter’s sports teams, operating a youth basketball camp that he and Daniels created in San Antonio 20 years ago, and he is establishing a foundation to help urban city youth understand the importance of education while pursuing athletics.

Alumna Rose Mustain’s work at NASA is supporting deep space exploration.

Rose Mustain ’95 is reaching for the moon and beyond. The Saint Leo alumna plays a key role in NASA’s Gateway program, which will be an outpost orbiting the moon in support of long-term human presence on the lunar surface and as a staging point for deep space exploration.

“The Gateway program allows for NASA to prove technologies and mature systems necessary to live and work on another celestial body—the moon—before embarking on multi-year missions to Mars,” Mustain explained. The Gateway is part of NASA’s larger Artemis program.

At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Mustain serves as the information management and solutions lead within the Gateway Program Planning and Control Office to protect and structure data, including Information Technology (IT) systems and solutions, cybersecurity, configuration management, data management, meeting services, and privacy implementation.

Mustain earned her bachelor’s degree in 1995 in human resource management from Saint Leo University’s Langley Air Force Base Education Center in Virginia. While she started in human resources, the technical aspects of the job soon won her heart and her career took a big leap to information technology.

“My NASA career began in the Training and Education Branch, Office of Human Resources, at NASA Langley Research Center as a secretarial cooperative education student with Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC),” she said.

After earning her associate degree, she attended Saint Leo. “Shortly after graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I landed an employee development specialist position in the office where I began my career,” Mustain said.

She was responsible for training NASA and contractor employees in several computer courses ranging from Microsoft Office products to HTML and Java web programming. Mustain then was asked to create and establish the Office of Human Resources’ first website.

“Working with the graphics team, I learned how to program using HTML to accomplish this goal,” she said. “I loved it! The fun of working across several different offices and combining ideas into a final product was challenging, yet fascinating. I was able to organize the data and assemble the information for users to understand the Office of Human Resources’ products, services, and people that deliver those items to Langley Research Center.”

By creating the website, Mustain learned a new skill and launched opportunities to work on process improvement and automation projects for the center director’s office. This led to her becoming an IT specialist in the Office of Chief Information Officer, leading the web and database systems.

“I have had three major transformations during my career at NASA—secretary, employee development specialist, and information technology specialist,” Mustain said. “All relied heavily on education, taking chances, and successfully implementing the skills taught by professors. My dream was to work on the Mission Directorate side of the organization, yet rarely did those organizations have information technology specialist positions. The Crew Exploration Vehicle, now Orion, posted a job in 2005. I went home and spoke to my husband, David, and our young sons, Matthew and Jacob, about the opportunity. Without qualm, all three said I had to take the chance and apply for the position. When I was offered the job, there was no hemming and hawing about moving 1,100 miles to Johnson Space Center.”

Rose Mustain (left) receives the Johnson Space Center Director’s Innovation Award from Ellen Ochoa, who is a retired NASA astronaut and a former director of the center.

For Mustain, space exploration and discovery will always foster learning. “I am excited to see what we discover about our technologies and ourselves,” she said. “Before the first moon landing, there were no cell phones, microwaves, or compact (laptop) computers. I have seen the evolution of technology over the years brought on by the exploration outside Earth. I cannot wait to see what the next phase of space exploration presents to humanity.”

Dealing with the Data

Mustain predicts the future of information management is, “in the enhancement of using automated intelligence to delve into the yottabytes (1 followed by 24 zeros) of data that will exist.

“Humans must adapt and get assistance diving through the overabundance of data to determine the relevant data needed to solve tomorrow’s problems,” Mustain continued. “Just as the World Wide Web and search engines such as Google and Yahoo transformed the availability of information, augmented intelligence will allow discovery of relevant data where humans can then leverage the knowledge gained to determine goals and objectives to solve integrated and complex problems.”

As for what excites Mustain about her job, she said it’s working with a team of individuals focused on exploration beyond low earth orbit. “The team challenges each other with ideas, investigates and learns from previous programs, and struggles with defining the concepts for securing a space vehicle and the systems housing the data from the mission,” Mustain said. “The joy gained by the team in reaching a resolution, implementing a new approach, and seeing the efficiencies from those decisions excites me.”

Lessons Learned at Leo

Mustain recalls how one of her Saint Leo sociology professors helped to challenge her thinking. The professor charged the class to think of where they learned their bias from and to consider what drives people to interact with one another in hostile or peaceful ways. While at first these questions frustrated Mustain, in the end, it helped to broaden her thinking.

“She awakened my realization that my misconceptions, yes, mistaken notions, about myself and others, only limited me,” she said. “Those self-imposed restrictions impacted my chosen limited interactions with other humans.”

Saint Leo’s business administration degree program required courses that Mustain said she incorrectly assumed were not necessary: courses in theology, sociology, and “soft skills.” Mustain said that while her concentration was in human resources, the general education courses were equally valuable.

“Those are the courses where I learned the most and began my fascination with organizational change and transformation,” Mustain said. “How do you establish programs that inspire employees to change their behavior? What can be done to have all organizational members focus on an objective and achieve it? These are lessons I still use today as NASA and the Gateway program aspire to embrace the fluidity of data instead of PDFs and documents that inhibit the ability to adjust quickly.”

Illustration showing a close-up of the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) with the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE), one of the elements of Gateway.

Fast Facts

Who influenced/influences you or played a big role in your life and your career?
Personally, my mama, Jackie Willett; my husband, David; and my two grown sons, Matthew and Jacob. The four of them supported my career goals and inspired me to believe in myself, used tough love when I faltered on goals, and helped me through several classes and challenging job situations.

What do you like to do in your free time?
Spend time with my husband and sons on our small farm that has cows and chickens as well as several cats and two loving dogs.

What was your first job?
I was a skee ball attendant at Buckroe Beach Amusement Park. The wooden balls and the iron machines would need some influencing from time to time since they were more than 40 years old.

What is something you would like to learn more about?
Cybersecurity—it is an ever-changing environment with outbursts of attacks and chaos. It reminds me of when I started learning about information technology programming languages—the learning never ends.

If you could do anything now, what would you do? Why?
Go to the Greenbrier State Forest in Caldwell, West Virginia, because the serenity and peace of the river are always rejuvenating to my mind, body, and spirit.

Father Randall Meissen, LC

Saint Leo welcomed the Reverend Randall Meissen as university chaplain in October 2020, and he now leads the University Ministry team. Meissen is a member of the religious order, the Legion of Christ, and was ordained as a priest in 2014. Prior to coming to Saint Leo, he served as sacramental associate at Our Savior Parish and the University of Southern California Caruso Catholic Center in Los Angeles. He also is a doctoral candidate in the history department of USC.

LEARN ABOUT FATHER RANDALL IN 15 QUESTIONS

  1. Describe yourself in three words:
    Inquisitive, analytic, compassionate
  2. Where did you grow up and what makes it special to you?
    I grew up on a small farm just outside of Salisbury, MO. The farm was a wonderful place to grow up, surrounded by the outdoors and open countryside. A good part of my extended family is in the area, so I will always treasure memories of a childhood surrounded by faith and family.
  3. What was your first job?
    There was never a shortage of chores to be done on the farm. However, the first job I remember getting paid for was cutting weeds out of my uncle’s soybean field.
  4. When did you know that the priesthood was your future?
    The call to the priesthood was an unexpected turn of events in my life. I went to college as a biology major and was extremely focused on getting into medical school as a career goal. However, after being involved in a car accident that took the life of one of my friends, I started to re-examine the big questions in life and turned intensely to prayer. Amid that process of deepening in my faith and becoming more involved with student ministry on campus, I experienced a call to the priesthood and decided to enter the seminary with the Legionaries of Christ after graduating from college.
  5. Who is your favorite saint and why?
    My favorite saint has to be John Paul II. He left a profound impact on the modern papacy and brought a new enthusiasm of spreading the gospel to all corners of the world. The so-called “John Paul II generation” of Catholics is a fruit of his outreach to young people at World Youth Days and has been a source of great innovation and revitalization in the church in my lifetime.
  6. What is your favorite Bible verse/Scripture?
    One of my favorite passages is the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11–32. That parable is powerful in how it describes the capacious mercy of God who, like a good father, hastens to embrace a lost child upon his return home.
  7. Where is the most interesting place you have ever been?
    I once had the chance to tour the papal gardens around Castel Gandolfo (the traditional summer retreat for the popes) with the Vatican’s top Latin translator as a guide.
  8. What excites you the most about Saint Leo University?
    Our students are the most exciting part! I love that our community is amazingly diverse. We must have a record for the most students from small island nations. Sometimes it stretches my geographic knowledge to the limit; I had never met anyone from Cabo Verde or from the Commonwealth of Dominica before coming to Saint Leo.
  9. How would you describe your homily style?
    You probably should ask students for a more objective opinion! In preparing homilies, I start by praying over the day’s readings and asking for light from the Holy Spirit. I try to keep things lively with stories and examples connecting the Bible message to students’ lives.
  10. Is there a myth about priests that you would like to dispel?
    I hope I can dispel the myth that priests are always boring! As the adage goes, “a sad saint is a bad saint,” and I see priesthood as a divinely inspired quest for sanctity…not a boring endeavor.
  11. What do you think our Catholic Identity calls us to do?
    Catholic universities are animated by a Christian anthropology that affirms each person as having a transcendent destiny and a worldview that sees continuity in truth, goodness, and beauty. This goes beyond merely fostering a higher education environment where faith reflection and practice are welcomed alongside rigorous academic study.
  12. Do you have any hobbies and what are they?
    In my free time, I enjoy hiking, running, Ultimate Frisbee, kayaking, and exploring parks and museums.
  13. What is your favorite song, artist, TV show, podcast, and/or book?
    I love [Giovanni Battista] Pergolesi’s hauntingly beautiful setting of the Stabat Mater, a hymn addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary as she stood at the foot of the cross. The fact Pergolesi composed it in his final days of life makes it even more moving.
  14. What are you enjoying about Saint Leo and Florida?
    I am amazed by the pristine natural beauty of this area of Florida. Our lakeside campus is a treasure, and I have also enjoyed taking day trips to some of the nearby crystal-clear, spring-fed rivers and to Florida’s beaches. Winter in Florida is hard to beat!
  15. What is something that most people do not know about you?
    Sometimes people are surprised that I know a lot about insects. During high school and college, I had my own small business that sold insect collections to biology teachers, and I trapped and collected most of the insects myself. I paid for my first car in college out of the profits from selling insects. Dead grasshoppers for a set of wheels was a great trade!

Teacher. Coach. Mentor. Administrator. Leader. These are all words used to describe Saint Leo alumnus Mike Lastra ’15. His passion is for lifting others up, helping them grow as students and educators. And he gives back to his alma mater in one very tangible way: He shares his love of learning and teaching with current Saint Leo University students and the greater education community.

Lastra earned his Master of Education degree with a specialization in educational leadership in 2015 from Saint Leo. He was named principal of Brooksville Elementary School in Hernando County, FL, in 2018. In addition to being the principal, Lastra is pursuing a Doctor of Education degree in school leadership at Saint Leo, and also serves as an adjunct faculty member for the university.

The road to becoming an educational leader started with a desire to be an athletics coach. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Chowan University in North Carolina and began teaching high school biology in 2004. “I taught high school for 12 years and coached football and wrestling,” Lastra said. “It was fun, and it was rewarding.”

He said it was a natural progression to become an administrator, something he did in 2015, when he became the assistant principal of Eastside Elementary, also in Hernando County. “I really started taking more leadership roles as a teacher-leader,” Lastra said. “The coach in me made me want to do that.”

It was suggested that he move into administration. “I never had taught a day of elementary,” he said. “I went from high school teacher to assistant elementary principal. It was a very different jump. The principal who hired me said, ‘leaders are leaders, and I can teach you what you need to be an elementary assistant principal.’”

From that point forward, Lastra’s leadership abilities and skills grew. He found great value in his Saint Leo education, which helped prepare him for his leadership role, Lastra said. “When we talk about the administrative, planning, and learning domains, the [Master of Education] program definitely prepares you for that,” he said. “With the Saint Leo program, we had to get practicum hours. That really rounds you as a leader.”

While some people may think that an online degree program isn’t as strong as the in-classroom experience, Lastra said at Saint Leo that is not the case because of the people—the dedicated faculty, staff, and students.

“I think the sense of community at Saint Leo, the teachers, and those working with Saint Leo in many capacities, truly prepare their graduate and undergraduate students to become teachers and administrators. “I don’t know of any other university where you get that sense of community,” Lastra said. “Even with the online programs, there is that feeling of being a part of the community.”

‘A Teacher’s Principal’

Alumnus Mike Lastra is the principal at Brooksville Elementary School. He continues to give back to the profession by helping up-and-coming teachers at Saint Leo University.

Now, Lastra contributes to the next generation of teachers as well as those who already are working in school districts throughout Florida. In addition to Saint Leo students, Lastra and his school works with students at schools across the state.

“Mike’s impact ranges from pre-service teachers, to university undergraduate and graduate programs, to elementary students and their families, his teachers, and the greater education community,” said Dr. Holly Atkins, chair of Saint Leo’s undergraduate education program.

He has conducted presentations for Saint Leo’s Teacher Technology Summer Institute, sharing innovative best practices for the meaningful use of technology in K-12 classrooms, Atkins said. “Teachers are often heard saying, ‘I want to go work for him!’ He is what I would call a ‘teacher’s principal.’ He walks the walk, doesn’t just talk the talk.”

Lastra has become something of a “tech guru” for educators and educators-to-be, teaching them how to use technology in the classroom and reach their students using it.

For Saint Leo students, he is a favorite speaker for Dr. Rachel Hernandez’ educational technology class. “For the last five semesters, he has been hosting a technology field trip each semester at his school,” Hernandez said. “The [Saint Leo] students tour the classrooms to see [elementary school] students engaged in various tools that enhance learning. He then takes the students and gives a debrief so that they can ask questions.”

Lastra said he thinks it is important for Saint Leo’s education students to visit with tech-savvy teachers. “It’s so powerful for Saint Leo students to see what they’ve been learning in their classroom, working in real life,” he said. “Some of the students say they learned more that day than all year!”

He also is a popular adjunct instructor for the university, Atkins said. “He shares his real-world knowledge teaching EDU 428: Educational Governance,” she said. “Students learn the legal, ethical rights, and responsibilities of classroom teachers through the leadership of an instructor who lives these principles each day.”

To encourage faculty at his school to engage in after-school professional development, Lastra holds “Tech Taco Tuesdays.”  

“Teachers attend the technology-focused professional development, and he feeds them,” Atkins said. “Most often, he is the presenter. This is so important in creating a culture in which teachers actively see their principal right there with them—working together to support the school community.”

While he is serious about the business of being an educator, Lastra’s favorite thing is “acting like a kid all the time.” He participates in dress-up days at the elementary school, dressing in silly outfits and costumes, which he says “keeps him young at heart.”

Lastra also persists in his own education. “The love of learning is really just being a continuous learner,” he said. “Whether it’s going to a conference, reading up on the latest trends, or sharing our knowledge. When I stop learning, I should really retire!”

He also looks to hire teachers who will follow in his footsteps. “My main thing is I want a teacher who is passionate and is all about kids,” he said. He advises anyone who wants to be an educator to “remember your why” and keep the reason for being an educator at the forefront.

What do you get when you cross a love of animals with a love of learning? Saint Leo University faculty members created the Interdisciplinary Approaches to Therapy and Service Animals course in 2017, and it now is being offered for its sixth semester.

Social work, education, human services, and criminal justice faculty teach this course, which provides an overview of human-animal interactions and the human-animal bond, and how those affect animals, society, and the work of those in “helping careers.”

Faculty members who are wild about animals combined their talents, knowledge, and research to create this popular course. Students learn about the social, physical, and emotional/psychological effects of human-animal interactions with interdisciplinary helping professions; educational benefits; therapeutic roles of animals; ethical and animal welfare considerations; and the connection between violence toward people and violence toward animals.

Saint Leo students get hands-on experience working with animals in various capacities. While dogs seem to be the most popular, they also work with other animals. In addition to University Campus, the course has been offered at the Ocala Education Center.

‘Dear Charlotte’ Helps Children

Dr. Rhondda Waddell, the course professor, sits with Joshua Hoffman reviewing their finished children’s book, “Dear Charlotte’s Story”
A page from Dear Charlotte’s Story: A Coloring Book

Last year, students even created a children’s coloring book, Dear Charlotte’s Story: A Coloring Book, and an accompanying website, Dear Charlotte, The Saint Leo Pig, based on one of Dr. Rhondda Waddell’s pigs. “This project came about after I was given a mini pig that no longer was living her best life,” said Waddell, associate dean of the College of Education and Social Services.

“During the course of the class, the students decided to create the website and book as a class activity,” she said.

“Then as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions on class attendance in-person, they wanted to offer something more that children could do while home on their computers that might put their minds at ease and distract them from the restrictions of confinement and generalized worry that comes from social distancing.”

And who can resist an adorable mini pig? “Anyone can enjoy the heartwarming story of Charlotte finding her forever home, and her interest in helping others,” Waddell said. Everyone can “enjoy her words of comfort and the joyful pictures of her animal friends.”


Charlotte the pig
Charlotte the pig in her summer bonnet

Illustrator of the book, Adrien Valez

Then-student Joshua Hoffman ’21, a criminal justice major, was the author while Adrien Velez, 11-year-old brother of social work major Yulissa Velez, drew illustrations for the children’s coloring book. Then-students Allison Daul ’21 (biology major); Mike Simmons ’20 (criminal justice major); Jessica Skrelunas ’21 (psychology major); and Velez created a website using Wix.com to showcase the little pig.

“She lives with her newfound dog siblings, and sister, Cherry Moon Pie, who is another pig!” the website states in the “About Charlotte” section. “Charlotte is a happy girl who has gone through challenges just like me and you. We will share her advice and adventures with all of you!”

For author Hoffman, working on the Dear Charlotte project was a fun idea that “quickly became real,” he said. “Reflecting on the experience, what means the most to me is that we, in a unique way, took some of the core concepts of the class and applied them to the real world,” Hoffman said. “Service and therapy animals are very effective when supporting someone in an educational environment, and the same excitement and enthusiasm we had for Charlotte can now hopefully contribute to a child’s reading and writing skills through the Dear Charlotte project.”

‘Field Trips’ Still Part of the Plan

Dr. Jodi Lamb with horse at the Emerald M Therapeutic Riding Center

While holding classes online was challenging, Saint Leo’s faculty members made sure students had a great experience. “In terms of class field trips, we had planned for a visit to the Emerald M Therapeutic Riding Center,” Waddell said. “I went with another faculty member from education, Dr. Jodi Lamb, and filmed the entire tour with Emerald M director Lisa Michaelangelo, and it was awesome. I embedded the video into Prezi to share in class. Surprisingly, I received a complimentary email from Prezi saying it was a valuable video and addressed the COVID-19 ramifications on the farm, and that was a valuable learning experience.”

Special guests and their beloved animals were welcomed via Zoom. “We missed touching them, but it was still fulfilling to have this encounter with the animals and their handlers,” Waddell said.

The interdisciplinary class features many types of animal interactions and therapies from K-9 officers to equine therapy, and from therapy-service dogs for veterans to search and rescue animals.

Several faculty members shared their experiences from interdisciplinary perspectives. For example, Dr. Mike Campbell, associate professor of social work, spoke about his research in hospitals regarding volunteers and their therapy animals’ relationships to their volunteer work, and Dr. Debra Mims, associate professor of criminal justice, spoke about her work as a police officer with equines and her dog behavior training work.

Mims taught the course in Spring 2021. The owner of eight dogs, she knows the benefits the canines offer. Her dissertation described the use of therapy dogs to help victimized children talk about abuse. Mims’ animals include therapy, agility, obedience, and critical incident stress management team dogs, as well as Pasco County (FL) family court dogs. Mims also is the therapy dog liaison for the Region 5 Tampa Bay Critical Incident Stress Management Team, which responds in crisis situations.

“I definitely think this is a worthwhile course for students,” Mims said. “We discuss that as humans, we all have certain needs that must be met for us to be healthy: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Animals make great therapists, and we discuss how they can aid mental health issues, and the scientific findings that link mental well-being to the presence of animals.” 

This Fall Semester, the course is being taught by Dr. Ospina-Kammerer (Dr. VOK), professor of social work. The College of Education and Social Services faculty plan on writing more children’s books, focusing on social justice issues and helping children overcome challenges.

Encouraging and educating the next generation of law enforcement leaders is just part of what drives Saint Leo University alumna Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, ’98. As the chief of the Durham (NC) Police Department and president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Davis not only serves her community but also strives to improve her chosen profession. She advocates for change and standardization in training and the implementation of best practices for all law enforcement officers, nationwide.

Davis graduated with honors, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminology from Saint Leo, studying at Fort McPherson in Atlanta. She earned a master’s degree in public administration from Central Michigan University and hopes to earn a doctoral degree.

She began studying at Georgia Military College to earn an associate degree and then transferred her credits to Saint Leo. “I was very familiar with Fort McPherson as my father was a career Army soldier,” she said. “When he retired and came back to Atlanta, we stayed close to the military environment.”

A co-worker at the Atlanta Police Department spoke highly of Saint Leo University. “He started talking about his instructor, Dr. Art King, and said what a great curriculum the university offered,” Davis said. “I thought it was a good fit. And there were evening classes that fit into my schedule. I looked at the curriculum, and it fit with my career aspirations.”

Like many of Saint Leo’s criminal justice students who are employed at law enforcement agencies, Davis said, “There literally were days when I sat in my patrol car writing my papers in between calls.

“Saint Leo was just an awesome experience for me,” she said. “[Earning my degree is] probably one of the proudest moments in my life. I appreciated that journey because it was so tied to my work. To graduate and to graduate with honors, to know that the sky is the limit. I could do it. I could juggle the school work and still excel in the job.”

Serving Her Communities

Davis has served in law enforcement for 34 years, beginning in 1986 as an officer with the Atlanta Police Department. At the time she started, the Atlanta agency was making an effort to diversify its police force, especially recruiting more women. Although there were 11 women in her recruit class of 35, only two graduated.

She and other female officers encountered resistance to them being police officers, but “it’s been getting better over the years,” Davis said. “There are more women in charge. And there are some male leaders who are forward-thinking and appreciate the contributions women make. It can be better. With 18,000 police agencies around the country, think of how many women are leading [those agencies]. We could absolutely do better in that regard.”

Davis said her Saint Leo degree prepared her for leadership roles. “I think it broadened my perspective,” she said. “Even though I was very familiar with law enforcement, it expanded my thoughts on social problems, history of the law enforcement, community policing, and all of those important elements that are key to be successful—to really understand the criminal justice system. I learned what is expected of law enforcement agencies. It’s not just responding to calls.”

As she progressed through the ranks with the Atlanta Police Department, she developed strengths and skills in crime analysis and reduction; strategic planning; community engagement; special operations; homeland security; project oversight; capital improvements; and many more aspects of law enforcement.

In 2008, Davis was selected by Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine, as one of 80 women for the O White House Leadership Project, Women Rule! The group, dubbed “Tomorrow’s Leaders,” benefited from meeting with some of the country’s trailblazers, which helped prepare Davis for her future.

Her responsibilities as chief of the Durham Police Department, are varied. She became chief in 2016, and oversees a department of more than 600 employees and a $90 million yearly budget, while serving a population of 280,000. “A lot of the responsibility is more how we function as a unit and work well with the community,” the chief said. “Community engagement is critically important. Helping our officers know the community is our customers. Building relationships is imperative. I cannot think of a time that we need that more than now.”

Building Leaders

Davis became a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) as a sergeant in Atlanta. While the organization is geared toward law enforcement executives and police chiefs, associate members who hope to be mentored also are accepted. Davis joined NOBLE because she wanted a mentor. “I wanted to know the ins and outs of leadership,” she said. “We [NOBLE] also do a lot of work in the community, a lot of education, and awareness training, especially in communities of color so young people have a good understanding of the police. And we want them to have safe encounters with the police. We discuss ‘what do you do if you’re pulled over?’ NOBLE also helps officers as well, managing the situation so that it is a safe encounter. It’s sort of a twofold approach. The end goal being mutual respect and making sure everyone goes home safe.”

NOBLE started in 1976 because of racial inequities that prohibited African-American law enforcement from moving up in the ranks, Davis said. “It was created to help to develop minority police officers into executives,” she said. “Since then, we’re very involved, trying to achieve equity in communities, equity in the way we operate. It isn’t a Black-only organization. It is for those who share similar values and goals.”

Now serving as president of NOBLE, Davis has been in the spotlight in 2020. She appeared on “Good Morning America” on ABC on June 3, and called for “sweeping changes and police reform” as she reacted to the nationwide protests taking place over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

But even more importantly, she testified before the U.S. Senate Committee for the Judiciary on June 16, about Police Use of Force and Community Relations. “I was invited to testify, and I discussed the 10 key areas that we feel as an organization must be addressed in order for police agencies to be more standardized, more accountable, and so they don’t keep officers who keep committing egregious acts.”

Calling For Change

Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis outside of the Durham (NC) Police Department building.

In her testimony, Davis said, “We wholeheartedly support the passing of the ‘Justice in Policing Act,’ which specifically addresses the loopholes that continue to allow policing tragedies free of oversight and accountability, environments that foster unfettered racial tension, and the continued desecration of what I’ve always thought to be a NOBLE profession. Lastly, on behalf of more than 3,800 law enforcement leaders, mostly minority who represent the membership of NOBLE, I thank you for supporting the law enforcement profession, but more importantly, for listening to the voices of protesters around the globe who demand change … they too deserve action.”

Davis said she is proud to serve as president of the national organization. “It’s an honor to be able to speak on behalf of the 18,000 police organizations, especially at times like this,” she said. “We come from the community, we understand the communities—not that my other colleagues do not—but we advocate for change, to listen to the community.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged her, Davis said. “But I’m still carrying out my goals and strategic plans,” she said. “I’ve done four interviews in one day.”

She considers communication as being key. “I encourage up-and-coming leaders to take advantage of public speaking, become certified as an instructor, take classes,” she said. “If you can’t communicate it, you can’t share it, or articulate it in a meaningful way. “It’s important to work on ourselves holistically.”

Saint Leo’s criminal justice program primed Davis for her current positions. “That’s what prepared me for leadership,” she said. “You can be a great police officer and know the fundamentals, but until you expand your perspective and learn what is expected and engage the community, you won’t succeed as a leader. You have to look at law enforcement from an aerial view.”

Her degree helped her learn about recruitment, retention, and other administrative support roles that leaders must fill. “You’re dealing with a lot of various personalities,” she said. “You’re trying to find cohesion—to bring everyone together from different places and perspectives. Look at it from a holistic standpoint, so you get buy-in for the philosophy of the department.”

Davis strives to lift up and mentor others. “I’m constantly trying to ensure people have opportunities to take on leadership roles,” she said. “I’m preparing an environment for that, including college and advanced training. I’m always telling people, ‘You can go back to school. I did it! I had a daughter, and I worked at the same time!’”

She and her husband, Terry, are parents to one daughter and grandparents of two, who live in New York. Most of her family live in Atlanta while the couple is based in Durham. Terry Davis also is a Saint Leo alumnus, having earned his associate degree from Saint Leo in 1997.

Looking toward the future, at 60, Davis said she is “sort of at the sunset of my career. I believe I still I have a lot to offer this industry. It may not be in the position as a chief; it could be in some other role. There is the saying, ‘To much is given, much is required,’ I still believe there is more for me to give.”


Hear Alumna Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis

View the testimony of Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis, chief of the Durham Police Department and president of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

Chief Davis on “Good Morning America”:

Lacrosse alumni share their knowledge with college and high school players on the field and off.

Saint Leo University’s lacrosse programs are producing alumni who still are racking up accomplishments on the field, but they now are experiencing it from a coach’s vantage point. Building relationships and connecting with young people are just two of the benefits coaches reap while guiding athletic teams.

“When players join our team, there is a mutual investment,” said Brad Jorgensen, men’s lacrosse head coach. “We are counting on them helping us win games and represent Saint Leo, and they are counting on Saint Leo preparing them for the rest of their lives.”

Today, several Lions, now living across the country, are making the most of what they learned on the lacrosse field and in the classroom at the university.

Alumnus Anthony Biondo serves as the head men’s lacrosse coach at Hendrix College in Conway, AR, where in his first year as head coach in 2017, the Warriors set a school record with eight wins. Biondo earned his bachelor’s degree in middle grades education from Saint Leo in 2009.

“My education background helps with my approach to everything we do here,” Biondo said of his coaching experience at Hendrix. As he learned at Saint Leo, reaching young people can take several different approaches.

“It is my goal to ensure we are teaching our young men, and finding ways to break it down into little nuggets,” he said. “We try to reach our players in different ways; whether it is hands-on [field application], visual, or audio, we try and make sure we hit everything as a staff to ensure the information reaches the players.”

Not only does Biondo coach on the lacrosse field, but he also runs the leadership council and manages the budget for the program. “The job of being the coach is truly being a jack-of-all-trades,” said Biondo, who also maintains his team’s social media presence and recruits new players.

One of his biggest takeaways from his time in a Saint Leo uniform is that details matter.

“Coach Jorgensen was always on us about the little things, and making sure we did them, and teaching us to do them the right way,” Biondo said. “During my time there, I was able to grow and find my focus for my career. My professors in the education department taught me so much about how to connect with my students/players and to always approach it with a fresh mind every day.”

Linsey Hoskins ’14 has come full circle as she graduated from J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, FL, and now is the head girls lacrosse coach for the Mustangs. She also coaches the Tampa Tribe club team.

Hoskins earned her bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in forensics/criminology. Now, she is teaching biology at Mitchell as well as teaching a new forensics class.

“I use my degree every day,” Hoskins said, “Since I teach the subjects that I studied. It is great just having the background knowledge. I use my real-life experiences and my different lab experiences.”

Hoskins was a walk-on player for the Saint Leo women’s lacrosse team, and she credits athletics for getting her through school. “I chose Saint Leo first and the sport came secondary,” she said. “It kept me focused. I probably wouldn’t have stayed in college if I hadn’t played a sport. Having the resources that Saint Leo offered to keep me focused, kept me in school. I may not have got those [resources] at a bigger university.”

As a coach, Hoskins said, she loves “just being able to bring the game that took me through college to other girls.

“It is important for those of us who did play at a high level to pass that along,” she continued.  “We need more role models for these young women. I love it.”

Saint Leo women’s lacrosse head coach Caitlin Hansen could not agree more. “I view coaching as an investment in growing the game,” Hansen said. “Lacrosse is a rapidly growing sport, and it’s one where we always are looking for people who have played to join the coaching ranks and give back. I think that investment in the future of the game is important.”

Two alumni who played on the Saint Leo men’s lacrosse national championship runners-up team are Kyle Pauwels and Jake Gilmour. Both earned their bachelor’s degrees in management in 2018, both are pursuing master’s in business administration, and both are coaching.

Pauwels is an assistant men’s lacrosse coach at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. “With my undergrad degree being in management, there are a lot of concepts that apply to the business side of things along with coaching,” he said. “When managing a company or team, you come across dealing with different people and how you can lead them to success. There is also a lot of business and finance that comes with coaching, so my degree helped me prepare for the behind-the-scenes stuff in regard to booking hotels, ordering food and equipment, and more.”

As a coach, Pauwels said he loves giving back what he learned during his playing days. “I enjoy being around this age group and having an impact on them in any way possible,” he said. Like Biondo, Pauwels said taking pride in doing the right thing and doing something well were values instilled in him by Jorgensen, the Lions coach.

Gilmour was drafted by the Denver Outlaws to play professional lacrosse and plays for Major Series Lacrosse League in the summer. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, he is waiting to hear about this year’s schedule. He also is a graduate assistant for Career Services at Saint Leo and co-head coach for the Wesley Chapel (FL) High School boys lacrosse team.

In addition, he helped with Lions lacrosse. “It was really cool and fun to be a part of all the other aspects and see it from a different perspective,” Gilmour said.

“I’ve actually been coaching for several years, as I coached summer clinics for the team I played for [in Canada],” he added. But while that coaching experience was only for a weekend, he enjoys coaching the Wildcats high school team.

“I enjoy being able to see the development of the players as they progress, and how their love of the game grows,” Gilmour said. “And obviously, I still have a passion for the game.”

In Career Services, Gilmour helps students discover what they need to be career-ready and what different work environments are like and also helps with their internships. During this time of online learning, Career Services also moved online, and Gilmour hosts virtual workshops and drop-ins for Saint Leo students.

His Saint Leo degree provided a solid foundation, Gilmour said. “A lot of what I learned is time management,” he said. “I handle my everyday job and balance high-school coaching and college coaching on the side. You have to get your act together pretty quickly!”

Pauwels and Gilmour share a favorite Saint Leo memory—playing for a national championship. “Really my whole senior year,” Pauwels said. “From being unranked to making it to a national championship was surreal. Our team came together so much on and off the field over the year. That whole season is still as clear as day.”

For Saint Leo’s Jorgensen and Hansen, coaching future coaches is rewarding.

“Having former players get into coaching is one of the highest compliments I can receive,” Jorgensen said. “To know that guys thought highly enough of the experience here at Saint Leo to want to spend their lives involved in lacrosse is really rewarding.”

Hansen said she thinks coaching is an investment in developing future leaders. “If you can build relationships and connect with these high school and college players, you can really push them to not only be their best selves on the field but in all other aspects of their lives as well.”

Those lessons have paid off for the alumni who are coaching. All said they want to continue coaching, teaching, or being involved in lacrosse and sports in some way.

Gilmour summed up Saint Leo’s culture and its effect on him: “It’s based on respect,” he said. “The world is a lot bigger than lacrosse, but it all begins with respect.”

 

Photos courtesy of Anthony Biondo and Hendrix College; Kyle Pauwels and Lincoln Memorial University; and Linsey Hoskins

Michele Naughton ’10 ’13 ’18 uses her Saint Leo education to invest in her community through her work with the Norfolk Police Department.

Michele Naughton is a survivor who overcame being homeless, raising children as a single mother, suffering a serious injury, and fighting cancer on her journey to becoming a police captain with the Norfolk (VA) Police Department.

A triple Saint Leo graduate, Naughton studied at education centers in Virginia, and earned an associate degree in 2010, a bachelor’s degree in business administration-management in 2013, and a master’s degree in criminal justice in 2018. She also is a graduate of Saint Leo’s Command Officer Management program.

A self-proclaimed “Army brat,” Naughton lived in Oklahoma, Germany, Texas, California, and New York prior to moving to Virginia. “I lived in the Louis Armstrong projects in Bedford Stuyvesant,” she said. “My parents had six kids, and when I was 15, my mom decided to move from Sacramento to Brooklyn to reunite with my dad. He was an Army veteran and an alcoholic. His addiction forced my mother to leave. With six kids in tow, we walked the streets of Brooklyn. We were homeless at times.”

But the strength of her mother encouraged her. “She loved us and ensured that our education was a top priority,” Naughton said. However, her educational journey stalled when she became pregnant at 19. She became pregnant again with twin sons and soon followed her mother to Norfolk so she could have her support.

“I originally became a police officer because my mom told me to!” Naughton said. “It was that simple. But once I became an officer, and I realized that every day is different and there are many opportunities, I really enjoyed it.”

She faced more challenges as she tore her meniscus after entering the police academy, delaying graduation for two years until 2002. In 2005, while pregnant, she was diagnosed with cancer. She has been in remission since 2006.

Naughton said, “I have dealt with adversity throughout my career and this accomplishment [being named captain] answered the questions I posed to God such as why I survived cancer, but my 3-year-old nephew did not, why did I get injured in the academy so completion took almost two years, why did my mom get shot and survive, and why did I meet Officer Sheila Herring in the academy, who was killed in the line of duty in 2003? I finally realized that God had a purpose for me. I believe I can inspire others to achieve their goals and to keep going even when the going gets tough.”

Norfolk Police Department Captain Michele Naughton receives a Community Heroes award from the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce
Saint Leo alumna, Norfolk Police Department Captain Michele Naughton, center, receives a Community Heroes award from the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.

In 2007, she became a community resource officer assigned to the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “I could relate to the concerns of the community as I had been a resident of the New York Housing Authority. I wanted to truly help make a safe community for the families, especially the children. I saw myself in the women in that community. I am a single mother, and I faced a lot of the same challenges as the residents. I was able to connect with them.”

Prior to being promoted to captain, she served in the patrol, detective, training, and vice-narcotics divisions throughout her career with the NPD.

Learning Curve

Naughton learned about Saint Leo University from other Norfolk police officers. “I was drawn to Saint Leo primarily because of the flexible schedule, affordable cost, and numerous degree programs,” she said. “I was a single mother of three, and when I started my educational journey, all my children were in elementary school.”

She completed most of her undergraduate degree at the South Hampton Roads Education Center at JEB-Little Creek, and also took classes online and at the Norfolk and Oceana offices. Her graduate degree program and Command Officer Management program were completed at the Chesapeake Education Center. “I enjoyed blended classes because I was able to manage the amount of time away from work and family and still able to receive classroom instruction,” she said.

Through Saint Leo, she learned skills to assist her as she moved into a command position. “Certain classes like accounting, budgeting, management, and policy courses provided the knowledge to understand the business and legal aspect of policing and the administrative side of law enforcement. I believe that, coupled with my experience, has made me a better officer today.”

Empowering Women

Captain Michele Naughton at Richard Bowling Elementary School's Black History Month presentation on March 5, 2020
Captain Michele Naughton at Richard Bowling Elementary School’s Black History Month presentation

Law enforcement needs more women, Naughton said. Women possess many special characteristics such as emotional intelligence, she said. “My advice would be that sometimes we [women and women of color] may doubt ourselves because we don’t see people who look like us in positions of authority in law enforcement, but there is a place for you. I would say, ‘you are smart enough, you are strong enough, and you are good enough. You are enough!”

While she said law enforcement is not an easy career path, it is rewarding. “Whoever made the glass ceiling wanted it to be broken—if not, it would have been made of concrete or steel.”

Naughton is motivated by the sense that she can change people’s perception of police officers. “I can truly be part of the solution,” she said. “I am motivated by knowing that I am a part of an organization that believes in fostering positive relationships and inclusivity. I am motivated because I see the example of leadership through authentic community engagement that results in crime reduction and building trust set by Chief Larry Boone.”

In turn, the Norfolk chief has great things to say about Naughton. “Not only is she an inspiration to young women, she is also an outstanding model for leadership,” Boone said. “Having overcome personal, professional, and health challenges during her career, Captain Naughton’s background authentically resonates with citizens, as she is an example of endurance and fortitude for anyone facing difficulties in their life. I am certain her legacy will impact/influence the future of recruitment for women and minorities in law enforcement by her example and mentorship.”

The Gig

In her position as captain, Naughton is the commanding officer of the Office of PRIME Affairs. PRIME is public relations, information, marketing, and engagement. She oversees the Public Information Office, Community Affairs Sections, and Community Outreach.

Naughton attributes her success and ability to move up the ranks within the police department to “the support and love of the community, co-workers, and family,” she said.

She volunteers weekly as a literacy tutor, co-hosts the bi-weekly radio talk show We Are One – NPD and You, and serves on the Cops & Curls Committee and the Fair and Impartial Policing work group. “I make time as it is important to me,” she said. “One encounter can change the path of a person’s life.”

And Naughton knows she does not do it alone. The support of her family, the Norfolk Police Department, the community, and God have encouraged her on this journey.

Photos by RGB Imaging

Educating students where they live and work is a core part of Saint Leo. Since 1973, the university has taught students at education centers and other teaching locations, in addition to University Campus. 

Center students for the most part are older and nontraditional students, meaning they may not enter college at age 18, immediately after graduating from high school. They often are working full time and juggling family commitments with studying. Saint Leo’s centers focus on offering classes when students need them. 

Making education center students feel a part of the university is crucial to their success. The centers sponsor many activities and clubs to bring students together, including participating in Saint Leo Serves projects in their communities. Saint Leo changes our students’ lives and makes a difference in the communities where centers are located.

University administration continuously monitors center locations to make sure they are meeting the needs of current and prospective students. In the past few years, Saint Leo has opened new locations and expanded others to better provide educational opportunities for the surrounding communities. Soon, the university will better serve the Charleston, SC, region with the opening of a new center in Summerville, SC, and a second one on the Naval Weapons Station Charleston at Joint Base Charleston. Here’s a look at some of Saint Leo’s new and expanded education centers.

Florida

Tampa

– MacDill Air Force Base

East Pasco Education Center 
at University Campus

Brooksville Pasco-Hernando

State College Office

New Port Richey PHSC Office

Spring Hill PHSC Office

Gainesville

Lakeland

Lake City 

Key West
at Naval Air Station Key West

Jacksonville

Naval Station Mayport Office

The Jacksonville center moved in December 2017 to a new location in the Oakleaf Town Center, an open-air regional shopping center. The 8,400-square-foot center gives students access to five classrooms, administrative staff, and a computer lab, as well as Saint Leo’s online library collection, online tutoring, and personalized career services.

Madison

Ocala

Saint Leo’s Ocala location opened in the fall of 2016. Its 9,172 square feet features 10 classrooms that include the latest technology, a computer lab, and student lounges.

Tallahassee

Georgia

Atlanta

Classes began in January 2019 at the new Atlanta Education Center at Lindbergh City Center. The centers in Morrow and Marietta, GA, ceased operations in December. Saint Leo occupies the entire second floor of the new Atlanta center with more than 23,000 square feet. It features eight classrooms with plans to develop more, a Learning Resource Center, cybersecurity lab, and student lounge.

Gwinnett

Savannah

A grand opening ceremony was held in October 2018 at a new location, but Saint Leo has served the Savannah community since 1975, when it began offering classes at Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF) and Fort Stewart. The new location is 14,900 square feet. It features 13 classrooms, a “cyber bar,” Learning Resource Center, computer lab, student study room, and student lounge. In addition, the center boasts the university’s third Military Resource Center for student-veterans and military-related students.

Virginia

Fort Lee

South Hampton Roads

JEB-Little Creek Office

Naval Air Station Oceana 
Office

Naval Station Norfolk Office

Saint Leo University celebrated the grand opening of its new location in 2016 at Naval Station Norfolk.

Chesapeake

Newport News

Fort Eustis Office

Langley Air Force Base Office 

Saint Leo University celebrated the grand opening of its expanded Newport News location in April 2018. The center added 4,386 square feet to its site, enabling it to open with a fully equipped cybersecurity lab, as well as additional classroom space, a study lounge, and a Military Resource Center.

South Carolina

Charleston

Summerville area
The new location for the Charleston Education Center is in the booming Nexton area of Summerville. It opens this fall and will offer updated technology, larger classrooms, a dedicated computer lab, learning resource center, student lounge, and more support services. Moving into a stand-alone location also will provide an opportunity to build stronger business partnerships that will benefit students and alumni.

Naval Weapons 
Station Charleston

Opening this fall.

Shaw Air Force Base
Sumter Office

Texas

Corpus Christi
at Naval Air Station

Corpus Christi

Mississippi

Columbus
at Columbus Air Force Base

California

San Diego
at Naval Base
 
San Diego

A Saint Leo education program is helping to address the teacher shortage in Florida by partnering with school districts.

Saint Leo University is helping Florida school districts “grow their own” teachers via an innovative program. Through agreements with 19 school systems, paraprofessionals and noncertified school district employees, who have an associate degree, recieve the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in education from the university. 

The agreements vary in scope, with all providing tuition discounts. In some agreements, Saint Leo will offer classes at a school within the district, while in others, the paraprofessionals will study at one of the university’s Florida education centers and online. 

The new program allows those who work in schools to become teachers in the district where they already are employed. “This is a home-grown approach that is addressing the teacher shortage in Florida,” said Dr. Holly Atkins, chair of Saint Leo’s undergraduate education program. It takes people who are based in the community and allows them to grow, gain a degree, and become teachers. 

“You have roots there,” Atkins said of the school district employees. “You have an understanding of who the students are in the community. That leads to more success for the [school district’s] students, too.”

When district employees consider becoming teachers, the main concerns that emerge are monetary investment, time commitment—both length of the program and demand on their personal schedule—and if they will be supported by their school district and academic institution, said Jessica Starkey, director of Saint Leo’s Jacksonville (FL) Education Center. “Our para-to-pro program addresses each of those concerns.”  

Growing teachers who know the area, people, culture, and lifestyle is beneficial to Florida’s school districts—especially districts in rural areas. “It’s going to help the teachers stick and remain in the districts,” Atkins said. “We don’t want a revolving door of teachers.” 

Tackling Teaching Vacancies
Districts spend time and money recruiting teachers, and this new program will provide a guaranteed pipeline of educators. With the partnerships, districts will “know in spring of 2021, ‘We’re going to have X amount of new teachers,’” said Dr. Tammy Quick, assistant professor of education at the Ocala (FL) Education Center. “They don’t have to go out and recruit.” 

Michele Bily, instructional specialist in human resources for Clay County District Schools agrees. She says the initiative allows the district “to recruit future teachers from a talent pool that has already shown commitment to our students and the district.”  

This home-grown approach to hiring teachers appeals to school officials. The district employees already are involved with the children and the community. “That fits right in with who we are as a university and our core values,” Atkins said of Saint Leo. 

Since Saint Leo already maintains relationships with many of the school districts, the para-to-pro agreements were a natural fit. 

“We have worked with these districts for years, but now they are serious about growing their numbers since there appears to be a shortage of certified teachers in our state,” said Dr. Susan Kinsella, dean of the College of Education and Social Services.

At the Jacksonville Education Center, these partnerships are strengthened by the personal attention education students receive. “My center has been amazing,” said Dr. Alexandra Kanellis, associate chair of undergraduate education. “The students [in the para-to-pro program] know there is a person to help them. We identified roles. I handle the academics, Jessica [Starkey] handles the financials, and the assistant director of admissions helps with all the paperwork. [Education] students know who to go to for help.”

The Hernando County School District is just one district that is pleased to work with Saint Leo. 

The partnerships take down the barriers that have prevented many people from returning to college and pursuing a bachelor’s degree and qualifies them to teach in their own classroom.


“This is a home-grown approach that is addressing the teacher shortage in Florida.”
— Dr. Holly Atkins, chair, Undergraduate Education


“We are excited about this partnership and what it could potentially do for our district’s recruitment and retention efforts,” said Michael Maine, the district’s senior recruiter. Maine is the district’s first senior recruiter, a position created in 2019 to fill frequent teaching vacancies and retain teachers for longer periods.

“By partnering with Saint Leo, we hope to bridge the gap and strengthen our pool of teacher applicants who are ready and prepared to be teachers,” Maine said. “The great thing about the program is that these individuals are already our employees and are already in our classrooms. They have a love for students and in many ways are already heavily assisting the teachers who they serve by helping to boost student achievement. Why not help them with their personal development and future goals of becoming teachers? It is a win-win situation!”

The para-to-pro programs allow the new Saint Leo students to complete their field placements in the school in which they work; however, they must teach in a different classroom to meet the state’s internship requirements. They also must complete their final field placement outside of the school district in which they are employed.

The districts all make a commitment to the students, helping with tuition, allowing the time for classes, and providing health insurance. “The HR staff and the district can say this is a benefit of employment,” Atkins said. “We [the university] provide a flat-rate on tuition, additional professional development opportunities, and additional support for the three state tests.”

Hernando’s Maine considers the para-to-pro partnership with Saint Leo to be a benefit to the district’s employees.  “It is an opportunity for us to create clear pathways for our current employees to move up within the organization,” he said. “If an employee knows that they have an opportunity to increase their influence within an organization and feel valued while doing it, they will stay. It’s all about retention of these great employees.”

School districts identify and recommend employees eligible for admission and provide placement for internships, and other support. “The additional support has been unique to each district,” Starkey said. “Some school districts will provide textbooks, laptops, and financial reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses. Many districts also are working to keep participating para-to-pro students paid during their final internship and keep their health benefits.” 

In Clay County, the district collaborated with the Clay Education Foundation to provide computers for each cohort member to ensure they had the necessary technology to complete their degrees, Bily said. 

Helping Florida’s Future Teachers
Saint Leo is working with districts to meet their needs, too. “We listen to what they want,” Kanellis said. “We go to them and say ‘What do you need from us?’ We stay connected to what is going on in education and what districts need. We have to stay current and flexible.”

“We’re flexible enough to make adjustments to the current program and still have the high expectations and standards,” Atkins added.

Some of the new Saint Leo education students have been paraprofessionals for years, Atkins said. “They have a wide array of teaching skills,” she said. “The program builds on that.”

Most are nontraditional-age students, who are juggling families and employed in demanding full-time jobs. “That’s what we specialize in at our centers,” Atkins said of the adult learners. “It’s not a learning curve for Saint Leo to have a mom come in as a student, who is holding down a full-time job and now going back to school full time. That’s who we work with.”

Many paraprofessionals think, “‘I can’t go to college because of time and money,’” Quick added. But the para-to-pro program with Saint Leo is changing that with the tuition discount, and by offering classes at district offices and schools, at nearby Saint Leo centers, and online. 

The partnerships take down the barriers that have prevented many people from returning to college and pursuing a bachelor’s degree and qualifies them to teach in their own classroom. Paraprofessionals complete most of their field placements right in their place of work. Districts then commit to hiring the paraprofessionals upon successful completion of the program. 

The para-to-pro program covers a wide range of employees, Atkins said. “It could be a classroom teacher wanting to take an undergraduate class for recertification or enroll in one of the graduate education programs. It can be someone who is working in the school district on a temporary certificate, who graduated with a non-education degree, but wants to get an education degree. Some districts have included noninstructional staff, who have strong ties to their school—a front-office secretary, for example.” 

The program has provided support for employees “with the hope that they can complete their education and be a lead teacher in a classroom,” said Brenda Troutman, director of instructional personnel for Clay County District Schools. “Many of those enrolled in the program would not have had the opportunity to accomplish this otherwise.” 

The Duval County Public Schools’ partnership with Saint Leo is called the Supporting Talent and Recruiting Teachers (START) program, and it launched in December.

“There was quite a ceremony at the Jacksonville district office welcoming the new cohort,” said Kinsella. “Families were invited and students were met by their superintendent and myself while they learned about Saint Leo University and the expectations of their school district. There is plenty of support for this program from Saint Leo and the school district, so we are certain these students will be successful. There is also the added component of including the families as it is so important to have their support.”

Several of the agreements with Saint Leo require the districts to hire the students once they graduate, pass the Florida General Knowledge Test, and the state certification exam. This will allow those who previously were making minimum wage to begin making a certified teacher’s salary, Kinsella noted. 

The partnership with Saint Leo University allows current Clay County support staff, who hold an associate degree to complete a bachelor’s in education in two years, Bily said. “Upon successful completion of the program, each graduate will be guaranteed a teaching position within the district.”

Collaborating for Strong Teacher Cohorts
“The biggest support system is what they create through their cohort,” Kanellis said of the new education students. “The para-to-pro cohorts come in, and they realize that all the students are feeling the same; they have the same dreams. It’s pretty amazing to see how they keep each other going. They pray together; they have dinner together; they study together.”

Clay County’s collaboration with Saint Leo “has created a strong support system to assist those enrolled, to encourage them through the process, and to simply be their cheerleader when things become tough,” Troutman said. “Clay County is excited to have this new partnership and looks forward to building great teachers for Clay.”

Saint Leo’s commitment to its education students doesn’t end when they walk across the stage at commencement. “The Department of Education tracks and assesses our program based on the performance of our graduates,” Atkins said. “They are evaluated in a large part on the standardized test scores of their students. These are long-term partnerships with our graduates.” 

Mario Conte counts Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake as shareholders in his company. The 2006 Saint Leo graduate shares a passion for golf with the celebrities, which he has translated into a national-reaching business. 

Conte double majored in international tourism and hospitality management as well as business administration with a specialization in management. One year after graduating from the university, he founded and became executive director of the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. 

“I did it pretty quickly,” Conte said of the business endeavor. “I started in the restaurant business after graduating from Saint Leo. But I decided I didn’t want to do that at all! I had a little money in the bank, so I went for it and never looked back.”

The Hurricane Junior Golf Tour (www.hjgt.org) hosts events for aspiring junior golfers who are looking to play on the collegiate level. Conte started HJGT in Tampa, FL, and lived in the same house as he did when he attended Saint Leo. “We started with 25 events in year one, and 12 years later, we are at 300 events in 28 states.”

Now based in Orlando, FL, Hurricane Junior Golf Tour serves youngsters who are serious about the game. “We start at [age] 10 and work up to 18,” Conte said. “Most are 14 to 18, and they are more serious about the next level and playing college golf. Of course, they all would like to play professionally, too.”

Florida also is home to most of the tour’s events as well as its biggest. “We can play year-round here,” Conte said of the Sunshine State.

That sunshine drew the Chicago native to attend Saint Leo. Conte played junior golf and in tournaments throughout the country. He enjoyed making trips to Florida for golf. “I had a family friend who was an alumnus of Saint Leo,” Conte said. “And I wanted to get to warmer weather, golf, and a life change. I always wanted to live in Florida.”

Conte met his best friend Mike Barbato ’06 at Saint Leo, where they became Kappa Theta fraternity brothers. With a degree in sport management, Barbato went on to work for sports teams and companies around the nation. Now, Conte has hired his fellow alumnus as the chief operating officer for Hurricane Junior Golf Tour.

Like Barbato, Conte has used his degrees to further his career. “I had some really great teachers and mentors at Saint Leo,” Conte said. “It was not only what I learned from a textbook, but I developed really great relationships, too. Stan McGahey [professor of international tourism] was instrumental in my wanting to travel. I took that degree and parlayed it with what I love, which is golf.”

Hard work also is a part of Conte’s DNA, and while he was at Saint Leo, he worked full time at Kafe Kokopelli in Dade City, FL. “It was owned then by the Greenfelders [Glen E. Greenfelder ’61, ’63, ’09 and trustee emeritus, and his wife, Gail],” Conte said. “They were a big part of my growth, and helped inspire me.”

As the executive director of HJGT, Conte does a little bit of everything. “You name it; I do it,” he said. “I started the business from the ground up. I do everything from helping manage the tournaments, the logistics, the sales and marketing, to our big relationships. Now, I’m looking forward and focusing on our two-year and five-year plans.” 

Among those big relationships is the one with NEXUS Luxury Collection, an international hospitality, real estate development, and asset management company, which boasts pro-golfer Woods and actor-musician Timberlake as lead partners. In 2017, Nexus became a shareholder in Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. 

“The success of junior golf is an important element in growing the game,” Woods said in a press release. “Helping boys and girls compete, and being involved in golf, will benefit the kids and help strengthen our sport.”

Growing the game is an integral part of Hurricane Junior Golf Tour. “That is a big initiative that we do on a daily basis,” Conte said. “Kids start off at local golf courses and then come to us. It’s our job to keep them engaged. We’re very forward thinking, and we use technology to keep them engaged.”

The biggest thing with Hurricane Junior Golf Tour is, “We want to be remembered as someone who changed the game,” Conte said. “We do things outside of the box. A lot of kids are uptight, and they get a lot of pressure from their parents. We want to make it fun. We want to make it a game again.” 

Passion. Joy. Inspiration. Those are words Salvatore DiBenedetto ’12 takes to heart and drops into his conversations. To be successful, you have to follow your passion, DiBenedetto advises.

DiBenedetto has parlayed his passion for food, travel, and communication into success. As The Grubfather, he is a social media influencer, and food and travel content producer for social media, online, broadcast, and print publications. He also founded The Connect Agency, a creative, digital branding and marketing company focusing on content creation for the hospitality industry, brand building, and digital marketing. 

One glance at his social media channels, and the salivating and envy begins. There are photos of DiBenedetto posing with a gigantic slice of pizza monopolizing the table; toasting with Chef Eric Ripert in the Grand Cayman; floating in paradise with a drink in each hand in beautiful Kauai; juggling a bratwurst and a plate of schnitzel in Germany; and sharing the food and flavors that make his Long Island home special. There are photos of food, more food, and even more food!

Becoming The Grubfather
So how did a guy with dual bachelor’s degrees from Saint Leo in history and international studies and a minor in cultural anthropology transform into The Grubfather?

“A lot of people wrote it [history and international studies] off as not going to be valuable later in life,” DiBenedetto said. “I believe people should follow their passions. I was passionate about traveling. And, I am interested in why people act the way they do. So I use the cultural anthropology minor, too. That is how I run my Instagram and social media.” 

DiBenedetto received scholarships to attend Saint Leo. “I feel like Saint Leo is a place for a certain person; you have to understand what you are getting into,” he said. “It’s in a small town, rural area. I didn’t want to be a little fish in a big pond. I wanted to be a big fish.”

Being involved is another of DiBenedetto’s passions, and he dove into activities at Saint Leo, serving as a class president, bringing new energy to the Sigma Lambda fraternity, and serving as the president of the Interfraternity Council. “I wanted to create a name for myself that I wasn’t able to do in high school,” he said. “Saint Leo gave me the confidence to excel and thrive in a place like Brooklyn and New York as a whole.”

The restaurant business long has been a part of DiBenedetto’s life. He started as a bus boy at the age of 13 and became a waiter at 15. “I’ve been a waiter my whole life,” he said. “I continued through college. I worked in Dade City [in Pasco County, FL] at Francesco’s [Restaurant & Pizzeria], Garden Café, and City Market Bistro. I fell in love with the hospitality industry.”

After graduating from Saint Leo, he accepted a job as a marketing director for a tattoo school in Brooklyn. “I quickly realized that I had no passion for it, and I didn’t want to work for someone else’s dream when I had big dreams of my own,” DiBenedetto said. 

So he left and went back to being a waiter. “The rents are high in New York, and I was thinking, ‘This is a risk,’ but if you’re going to do anything in life, you have to be willing to take the risk,” DiBenedetto said.

He began working at Brooklyn Commune, a café in his neighborhood. Chef Chris Scott, an alumnus of the Top Chef TV competition, had started a dinner program there, and DiBenedetto became the head waiter for the program. 

Food Network chef and Chopped judge Scott Conant and Sal DiBenedetto sample some of Conant’s dishes at Cellaio, his Italian-inspired steakhouse at Resorts World Catskills.

“It was there that I really fell in love with the culinary arts,” he said. “Unfortunately, the dinner program didn’t take off. But it gave me my biggest gift. They let me start their Instagram.”

Instagram, the popular photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook Inc., gave DiBenedetto a platform on which to shine. He promoted the food and culture of Brooklyn Commune via that platform. “Over and over, I would ask [guests] where they heard about us, and people said they found us on Instagram,” he said. With that, a business was born.

Potential clients reached out to him, and when he had seven clients, he thought, “I can do this full time.” He created his company, The Connect Agency. From that came The Grubfather. 

Named with a nod to the movie The Godfather and DiBenedetto’s Sicilian roots, The Grubfather and his team, including Saint Leo alumni, create and share information about restaurants, hotels, travel destinations, and lifestyle brands. According to www.thegrubfather.world, his work has been featured in a variety of social channel publications and websites such as INSIDER Travel, Travel + Leisure, Complex magazine, and LADbible, among others.

Now, The Grubfather is one of the fastest growing food, travel, and lifestyle blogs on Instagram, DiBenedetto said. It shows where to stay and what to eat and drink, along with photos of a smiling DiBenedetto. The Grubfather has close to 115,000 Instagram followers and 12,000 on Facebook. 

“I grew the brand [The Grubfather] through strategic partnerships and being consistent and staying on brand at all times,” DiBenedetto said. “For me, ‘on brand’ is anything I feel passionate about. I refuse to limit myself. If I’m inspired by it, and a person is a follower [on social media], then they are going to find appreciation in what I’m sharing. This is what makes me feel alive.”

The GrubfatherSaint Leo Ties That Bind
When DiBenedetto started The Connect Agency and The Grubfather, it was important to give back to people who were part of his community, including his Saint Leo family. “When you join a fraternity, and they tell you these people are going to take care of you for life, I took that to heart,” he said. He has hired Saint Leo alumni and loves giving them opportunities.

“The more wins we have for Saint Leo, the better it is for everybody,” he said. “I was able to hire somebody that I went to school with and, for me, that was very much a marker of success.”

Working with DiBenedetto is Peter Valcarcel ’14, whom DiBenedetto describes as his right-hand man. 

Future Looks Bright
DiBenedetto hopes to grow his business “in all directions and work on creative campaigns for brands that I’m super passionate about.” And the Saint Leo alumnus hopes to host his own food and travel show. “I want to grow The Grubfather brand exponentially. I’m in the process of starting a clothing line,” he said.

For The Grubfather, success means finding something you are happy doing, maintaining a positive outlook, and always following your dream. 


Sal DiBenedetto, The Grubfather

Age:
28

Hometown:
Long Island, NY

Favorite food:
I’m extremely partial to Italian food, and I’m a huge fan of Japanese cuisine.

Travel list:
Japan!

Favorite restaurant in the world:
My cousin’s little hidden restaurant in the hills of Sicily. It’s Ristorante L’Albero in Porto Empedocle, Agrigento, Italy.

Best dish:
Nero di seppia (black squid ink pasta)

How do you eat all the food in your photos?
I try everything that I post! But I did lose weight from college to now. I’m consistent about running and portion control. There may be a huge slice of pizza, but I share it with everyone on the photo shoot.

Advice for future entrepreneurs:
If someone closes a door on you, build your own. When someone tells you no, find the inspiration in it. Let other people’s negativity fuel your positivity.

Follow The Grubfather
@TheGrubfather on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Learning is a lifetime endeavor. And at 81, Lottie Boone is a great example of someone who doesn’t let the years get in the way of her education. 

Boone is a student at Saint Leo University’s South Hampton Roads Education Center. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. 

“Sitting around doing nothing is when you get old,” Boone said. “Take the time and study. Your brain is still working.”

Her grandson Nicholas Franklin graduated from Saint Leo in 2015 with a bachelor’s in criminal justice. “Then he went back and got his master’s [graduating in 2017 with a master’s in criminal justice-legal studies],” Boone said. “I told him, ‘I’m going back to school.’ And he said, ‘Baba, you’ve got to go to Saint Leo.’ ” Baba is what Franklin calls his grandmother.

“I had such a wonderful experience—finishing my bachelor’s and getting my master’s at Saint Leo,” Franklin said. “I knew that if I could do it, she could do it. She’s smarter than me; she has to be because she’s the one I always go to for advice—her and my mom, who I am working on getting her degree next! But everything I have done in life has aimed to make Baba proud.” 

Franklin said he will be waiting when she someday crosses the commencement stage with flowers and a big, proud hug. 

Boone’s higher education was delayed by life—a life that started on July 12, 1937, in Mobile, AL. Born at 2½ pounds and delivered at home by a midwife, Boone said she was so tiny, her mother placed her in a shoe box. “She fed me with a medicine dropper,” Boone said. “I must have been strong enough to say, ‘I’m not going to die. I’m going to stay here.’ ”

Following high school graduation, she enrolled at Alabama State University-Mobile and then transferred to Alabama State University in Montgomery to pursue a degree in home economics with a minor in sociology. She studied there for a year and a half and pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. 

“Then I got married,” she said. “My husband promised that we were not going to have children right away.” But along came a daughter, Pamela. As her husband was in the U.S. Navy, they traveled, and his last assignment was at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.

“I have three daughters,” Boone said with pride. “Pamela Franklin, Lottie Smith, and Jada Lee.”

Her love of home economics served her well as she worked as a manager for Sewing Circle Fabrics and a department store for several years. She also would go to schools and teach children how to sew. 

“Then my husband became deathly ill and passed away,” Boone said. “I had three little girls to take care of.  I had to work more than one or two jobs, and I still was taking in sewing [jobs].”

She started her own business, The Finishing Touches, creating crafts to sell. Then in 1978, she started working at the Virginia Beach Police Department, as a precinct desk officer. She retired after 28 years with the department. 

“I did entering into the computer, searching women when the officers brought them in, fingerprinting, and taking photo IDs of the people who were arrested,” she said. “I did quite a bit to keep the people calm when they were brought in. They are not in the best temper. I spent a lot of time just talking to them and explaining ‘this isn’t the end of your world.’ ” 

After she retired, “I became a wedding planner,” she said. “I make clothes, and I do flower arrangements. I’m quitting all of that so I can concentrate on all my classes.”

As for her girls, “Pamela went in the Army. Lottie got a scholarship to Virginia Tech, and Jada graduated from high school and now works in 911 communications,” Boone said. “I did not allow my girls to say ‘I can’t.’ They said, ‘I’ll try.’ ”

She said her daughters were not in favor of her returning to school at first as they thought it was too much for her to tackle. Two years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “It wasn’t what I had planned to do,” Boone said. “I had to go through chemo, radiation, the whole works. I am now cancer free.”

Lottie Boone and her criminal justice instructor Johnny Gandy, a captain with the Virginia Beach Police Department.

She wanted to get that bachelor’s degree. “I wanted to go back; I enjoyed it,” she said. “It was so hard. But being my age at the time, I needed more help.”

Mathematics faculty member Edmond Frost assisted her by arranging for a math tutor. She had to take last semester off, but is back at her studies with some help from faculty and staff. 

“I’m not too old,” Boone said. “I work out. I take care of me. But I can’t stay away from chocolate. I grab a Tootsie Roll in the morning.”

Her dream is to encourage other older people to become students. “I want to talk to seniors and let them know it’s never too late. I trust God. God is my source. I was a chaplain at Unity Church of Tidewater. Even when I go to church, people say, ‘I heard you were going back to school.’ You’ve got that right!”

What she may do with her degree remains unknown, but she does enjoy mentoring young people. One thing is for sure for Boone: “I am going to put my diploma on the wall by my family’s pictures and thank God every day that I finished.”  

Families form in a variety of ways. Some members are born, while others are sought. Some members are inherited, and some are a surprise.

Within the Saint Leo community is an array of blended families. There are faculty and staff who commit to taking students under their wings, ensuring their success and well-being, and students who take care of one another.

Here, we profile the matriarchs of three such families in the Saint Leo community.

Ms. Evon, giver of hugs, drier of tears, Lions cheerleader

Ms. Evon

Great people, great children come through the doors of Saint Leo, said Ephonia McCobb, or “Ms. Evon” as she’s known to the Saint Leo community. A housekeeper in Facilities Management, McCobb takes care of the Marion Bowman Activities Center and its many student-athletes, coaches, and staff.

No one is a stranger to McCobb. Everyone is greeted with a hug and wished well with a “have a blessed day.”

At the Marion Bowman Activities Center, where she began working in 2006, McCobb does more than take care of housekeeping. She takes care of Saint Leo’s student-athletes as if they were her own children. And she takes care of their families, too, reassuring them that their children will be just fine at Saint Leo.

“There is one student, Mary, and her parents dropped her off in August,” McCobb recalled. “They were in the hallway crying. Her daddy was crying harder than her mama. I asked why. He said, ‘We’re dropping off my daughter.’ He said, ‘I just dropped my son off to the Marines last month.’”

“I told them they had done a wonderful job!” she continued. “They got their children to a good place. I asked if we could pray about it, and we did. And then I told them to go get their date night back!”

She offers student-athletes advice on life, dries their tears, and gives them hugs. “I am proud of all of them,” McCobb said. “I tell them that when they leave Saint Leo, if they see someone who is going down the wrong path, they need to take five minutes to talk to them about what they need to be doing, and then tell them ‘have a blessed day.’ Perhaps you might touch someone.”

Nancy Cheek, virtual communicator, career coach extraordinaire

McCobb’s impact on the lives of student-athletes has not gone unnoticed. “Ms. Evon is the epitome of our core value of community,” said Brad Jorgensen, head men’s lacrosse coach. “Almost every young man I have recruited has been greeted with a hug and a loud ‘welcome to the Saint Leo family!’ from Ms. Evon.”

Nancy Cheek

For nearly four years, Nancy Cheek has worked to create a close-knit community where no physical community exists. As associate director of Career Services, she helps hundreds of students each year with their career needs—no matter where they live—most times never meeting face to face.

“What I look forward to is when students tell me they are coming to graduation,” Cheek said. “After having developed a relationship with them remotely, it is so exciting to finally meet them in person.”

With a large portion of Saint Leo students attending school online or at education centers across the United States, Cheek is passionate about ensuring remote students feel supported in achieving their careers goals. While not able to physically be with them, she uses email, photographs, social media, video conferencing, phone calls, and online webinars to build relationships across the Internet.

“Our goal is to make online students feel like they are part of a community without ever coming into an office,” Cheek said.

Countless students have thanked Cheek for her support. She recalls the story of a student who decided to attend Saint Leo after retiring from a 20-year career in the military. He lived in a remote part of Florida and needed help assessing career options.

“I just want to say thank you again for all the helpful guidance you gave me,” wrote the student. “You said I did all the hard work, but I never really felt like I was doing it alone.” After working together for some time, the student Cheek helped was able to land a job with a government agency.

“I live for the days when I get an email or phone call that says, ‘Hey, I just got a job offer,’” Cheek said. “That is why I do what I do.”

Dr. Joanne Roberts, professor, advisor, retired public school teacher and principal

Dr. Joanne Roberts with spring 2018 scholarship recipient, Justina Guptill.

Every spring and fall, a new group of transfer students in their 20s and 30s enroll in the education program at the Gainesville Education Center in central Florida. The future elementary and middle school teachers form cohorts as they make their way together toward their teaching degrees.

They attend rigorous classes four nights a week while holding down full- or part-time jobs to pay expenses. Luckily, they enjoy the kinship they develop within their cohorts and benefit individually and collectively from the benevolent leadership of Dr. Joanne “Tippy” Roberts, professor, advisor, and retired public school system teacher and principal. Roberts says she understands why the classes become close-knit. These young adults—often the first in their families to attend college—receive moral support from one another as they proceed through a tough curriculum.

“Our cohorts sometimes spend more time with each other than with their own families,” Roberts said. So her approach incorporates two philosophies. The first is that the program at the center will create a sense of belonging for all committed education students. The second is that the student kinship can be nurtured into professional collegiality that will serve them well in their careers.

“Family is a good word,” Roberts said of the center environment for the education students. “It’s a learning community, but it’s a learning family. We work together, and we learn together.”

Recent middle grades education graduate Justina Guptill ’18 affirms that “the education program is special all in its own because you really get to know your professors and classmates. You spend so much time as a cohort, it becomes impossible to do anything other than care for the people around you and help in their successes as well as your own. Dr. Roberts put together a very caring faculty to help create the family atmosphere throughout the entire program!” The faculty she is referring to includes adjunct instructors and professors Roberts hired and supervises to teach the education courses in Gainesville. The adjuncts are a vital part of the family, as well.

Given Roberts’ multiple responsibilities, it is difficult to quantify the impact she has made during her years at Saint Leo. By her own count, Roberts estimates she has worked with 450 undergraduate and graduate students in various educational programs at the center.

Although Roberts considers teaching the hardest job in the world, second only to being a parent, she said she cannot imagine doing anything else with her life or finding a deeper sense of fulfillment in any other learning environment.

“During the 15 years I have worked at Saint Leo, I have become a better educator and gained more from my students and colleagues than I ever learned from textbooks.”

The natural desire for families to do things together makes it unsurprising that many often choose to learn together, too. Each year, Saint Leo serves as the choice university for myriad families. There are generations who have studied here and others who have gone to school together at the same time.

In this story, we profile just some of Saint Leo’s family connections.

Family overcomes obstacles to achieve education goals

Family plays a pivotal role in the lives of Mercy and Luis Figueroa, of Spring Hill, FL. The couple juggled military deployments, work, family commitments, and studying while earning their degrees at Saint Leo.

“My story starts rough, but ends in the American dream,” Mercy said.

Mercy and Luis in military
Mercy and Luis Figueroa served in the U.S. Army.

Mercy was born in Havana, Cuba, where her father was held as a political prisoner. Helped by the Catholic Church, her family made their way first to Spain and then to New York, leaving Cuba when Mercy was a toddler.

“The Catholic Church has been involved in my whole life,” she said. “It’s pretty awesome I got to go to Saint Leo.”

She grew up in Brooklyn while Luis grew up in the Bronx. “I took a long train ride to find a boyfriend,” she said. “He was a tall football player with a lot of hair, but I destroyed all the hair!”

Luis joined the U.S. Army first and then encouraged Mercy to get involved. She served in the Army for four years until her daughter Gabby was born prematurely at 24 weeks with cerebral palsy and other health issues.

“She decided as much as she loved the military, she loved her daughter more,” Luis said, and Mercy left the Army to care for Gabby.

Mercy transitioned from active duty military to being a supportive military spouse. Luis, a staff sergeant, left active duty in October 2014, and retired from the military this summer. He was often deployed, and Mercy took care not only of Gabby, but also sons Isaac, who is a junior at Saint Leo, and Connor, a high school senior. “We adopted Connor from the foster care system,” Mercy said.

Luis was stationed in Fort Lewis, WA, and while deployed in Iraq, he read about Saint Leo. “It piqued my interest,” he said. “Then I came down here and realized the campus was close [to the family home in Spring Hill].” In 2011, he began his first semester at Saint Leo, but again was deployed on a high-priority mission and had to take a break. But in fall 2014, he started again and never turned back.

Mercy tried to go to college “a million times,” she said. “Once I got Gabby medically stable, I started.” Luis encouraged her to join him at Saint Leo, and she earned her associate degree in 2016.

The university felt like home. “Once I heard about Saint Leo’s history, the diversity and inclusion, at a time when they didn’t have to accept other races, cultures, that is what made me love it,” Mercy said. “There are people from everywhere at Saint Leo. It is such a great place.”

Mercy and Luis looking at each other_LOcopy22
Mercy and Luis Figueroa enjoy a moment during their commencement ceremony in 2017, where Mercy was the student speaker.

The Figueroas not only have son Isaac studying at Saint Leo, but Mercy’s sister, Heavenly Aguilar, graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice-criminalistics at the Tampa commencement ceremony on May 31. She now is pursuing a master’s degree.

Mercy graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice-criminalistics, while Luis also graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration-technology management.

For Mercy, what’s next is pursuing a law degree at the University of Mississippi School of Law, while Luis will complete his MBA at Saint Leo in December.

A family finds their home at Saint Leo

The U.S. Air Force brought the Blackman family to Florida, but Saint Leo University provided a home away from home for them. For Derrick and Kimberly Blackman and their son Elijah, Saint Leo offered the opportunity to study together, lean on each other, and cheer for each other—in the classroom and on the basketball court.

The family moved to Tampa from Colorado in 2000 when Derrick Blackman was transferred to MacDill Air Force Base. While on active duty with the Air Force, Derrick took a class at Saint Leo and enjoyed it. From there, it was on to pursuing a degree.

Derrick graduated from Saint Leo in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in religion. Next up was Elijah, who enrolled after Saint Leo representatives visited Wesley Chapel (FL) High School during his senior year there. It took a little while longer for Kimberly. “About two years later, my husband encouraged me to enroll,” she said. “He said, ‘You’ve already got your associate degree, and Saint Leo is an awesome institution for getting a quality education.’ And it was great! I’m so grateful.”

Elijah distributing ashes2
Elijah Blackman served as a University Ministry Mentor and distributed ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Not only did Derrick encourage Kimberly, but he also pursued a master’s degree in theology. In 2017, the Blackmans graduated with Kimberly and Elijah receiving their diplomas together at the Saint Leo WorldWide commencement. Derrick received his master’s degree the next day during the morning graduate program commencement, where he also performed the national anthem.

“It was a great honor and privilege to be able to graduate the same year,” Derrick said. “It was even greater for me as husband and father to witness both my wife and son graduate from [Saint Leo] at the same time. The experience was extremely humbling.”

Now, Derrick teaches at Saint Leo as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Philosophy, Religion, and Theology.

Kimberly graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and now is working toward a master’s in human services administration at Saint Leo.

Kimberly and Elijah Blackman
Mother and son, Kimberly and Elijah Blackman, received their degrees together at the Saint Leo WorldWide commencement in 2017.

Elijah, who played basketball for the Lions and served as a University Ministry Mentor, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in sport business. After completing an internship at the University of South Carolina, he now is a graduate assistant for sports strength and conditioning at the University of Arkansas.

Graduating from Saint Leo with his parents made an impression on Elijah. “I thought it was incredible to be able to sit next to my mom during graduation and see my dad walk across the very same stage less than 24 hours later,” he said. “Graduating at the same time as your parents doesn’t happen too often.”

Derrick and Kimberly’s other son, Donovan, graduated from aviation school in 2015 and is working in Arizona. And while they tried to persuade daughter Kandice to attend Saint Leo, she did not want to attend college with her parents and brother. She is enrolled Trinity College of Florida in New Port Richey.

Twin brothers choose same major and graduate together

Family Friendly theme Igbonagwam family2Two recent grads from the Class of 2018 are not only twins, but they also graduated with the same major and held equivalent jobs as residence hall advisors. In another family connection, they are the sons of Sandy and Dr. Okey Igbonagwam, a Saint Leo assistant professor of computer information systems in Virginia.

As an employee, Igbonagwam is eligible for the university’s tuition remission benefit, which is a big plus in helping families pay for college. While the financial benefit was certainly a factor in the decision, Igbonagwam said his sons were also drawn to Saint Leo by the appeal of University Campus. “First impressions matter,” according to Chidozie and Chigozie. They also liked the academics, and both have wanted to be doctors since they were small. That made the biology major with a specialization in biomedical and health sciences a natural fit. The major is offered only at University Campus.

So, the twins came to Florida and got involved with the Pre-Medical Club, the student-run fundraisers for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and research projects with faculty mentors. Since graduation, both have taken the Medical College Admission Test and are hoping to be admitted to medical school.

Despite deferring their dreams, couple graduates together

DSC_9028When Sherryl Johnson-Tandy and her husband Erik Tandy walked across the commencement stage together on the evening of Friday, April 27, it was a little out of the ordinary. Sherryl, a corporal in the Pasco County (FL) Sheriff’s Office, completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice. So she was grouped with the other adult learners receiving undergraduate degrees in the evening.

Her husband Erik was also graduating with a Saint Leo degree, but his was the Master of Business Administration. The MBA grads are a big group, and are scheduled for the Saturday morning ceremony of commencement weekend, along with those who have attained graduate degrees in other disciplines. But Erik was switched to Friday night at his request so that he and Sherryl could walk across the stage together to celebrate their joint accomplishment.

It was no easy road for the two. They had long wanted to reach these educational goals, but raised a family, so they waited for everyone to be grown and out of the house. It did not quite work out that way. As they went to school, and worked, circumstances required that they also tend often to three grandchildren, ages 5, 8, and 9.

Sherryl has a memory of both the adults studying at night, and then Erik “waking me up from sleeping on my computer.” And she often did the same for him. When their finals were over, she said, it was a blessing to don their robes and receive their diplomas together.