Update 2020 | Vol 38
Feature
In the Spotlight
The John R. Sweeney Award for Catholic Leadership is annually presented by St. Jerome’s University to an individual or group who has demonstrated, through action or initiative, a concern and care for the greater community. Named for John Sweeney, the first lay Chancellor of the University, the award recognizes the ongoing need for a Catholic presence and voice in shaping future leaders, and engaging in the challenging issues facing the world today.
The recipient of the award is identified as someone who has made a continued commitment to Catholic leadership and publicly lives out the Gospel values in a distinguished life. In the year of a pandemic, identifying just one person living these values was a challenge.
In March 2020, the Province of Ontario mandated that non-essential workers go into lockdown. For many life was put on hold. Essential Workers – like many in our St. Jerome’s community– kept working. Alumni working in retail, industry, healthcare, education, and end of life services, all continued to do their jobs, despite these challenging circumstances.
With the support of Kay Sweeney, John’s widow, this year the University is pleased to recognize those alumni who stepped up to the challenge as Essential Workers, acknowledging their contributions with this award.
“Without the efforts of Essential Workers…we would be lost.”
-Kay Sweeney
John Sweeney’s Widow
“Essential Workers are a fitting representation of the year 2020 we have had and continue to have,” notes Kay Sweeney. “Without the efforts of Essential Workers – be it the delivery driver from the pharmacy or staff who constantly keep our living spaces in retirement homes sanitized, and in turn keep us safe and well - we would be lost. Congratulations to this year’s recipients.”
The pages of Update magazine could be filled with individual stories from alumni that are being recognized for this award, but we focused on just three. Together they represent the collective community of graduates, who have exceeded in demonstrating “a care and concern for community” that has been so important in a year, and in a world, faced with significant challenges.
Patrick (Pat) Lynch
BA ’76 - Psychology/Sociology
Patrick (Pat) Lynch has seen the pandemic from a difficult perspective: after the impact of the virus at its worst has affected families and individuals.
As a Funeral Director Assistant (FDA) at Henry Walser Funeral Home in Kitchener-Waterloo, he has worked with grieving families for the past 12 years. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Pat made this career change prompted by a downsizing at BELL Canada, where he was a Sales-Account Manager for 29 years. He is a self-described “people person”, who enjoys his role at the funeral home, helping families do what he can “to ease their pain and grief at a difficult time.”
During the pandemic, the management of loss and the grieving process has been forced to change.
Safety measures in place for funeral services at Henry Walser Funeral Home include staff wearing masks, contact tracing, and additional diligent measures for sanitizing. They are no longer able to host open receptions for funerals.
“This has been quite hard for most families,” says Lynch, who feels for them, as this important step of saying goodbye is no longer an option. Despite the loss of these gatherings, he says that “business must go on” and so they remain ready, willing, and available to assist all families in need.
“We all experience death and grief in our lives,” says Lynch, who chooses to see the pandemic as an important and positive life lesson. “We take a lot of things in life for granted” he says, noting that he sees how important our health is and how connectivity in community and family matters. He is “honoured and humbled” for the recognition of being a recipient of the John R. Sweeney Award for Catholic Leadership.
Sabrina Barlow
BA ’18 - Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies
The paths we start on are not always the ones we end up on. For Sabrina Barlow, a recent graduate from St. Jerome’s University, volunteering at a University of Waterloo placement changed “toying with the idea of becoming a teacher” into a found passion for childcare. After a three-month closure at the peak of the pandemic, Sabrina returned to work at Kids & Us Community Childcare in Holstein, Ontario, when the centre reopened.
By law, strict safety protocols are mandated in childcare facilities, but ‘safety’ took on a new meaning with the pandemic. These changes, Barlow says, have been a “big adjustment” and that “cleaning everything constantly, no communal play, and separating all the children based on age groupings” have been just some of the ways her centre has changed.
“It is hard to get collaboration going in terms of the children,” Barlow adds, and without parents or guardians allowed in the centre, staff are missing one-on-one chats with them about their children: an important part of their daily routines. Instead, the centre has a new app that helps them to communicate with parents and to send photos and updates online.
Barlow sees this as a time when “everyone is doing their best to take care of themselves, and also help take care of those around them.” One of her biggest takeaways from the pandemic has been the need for “community-based compassion.”
“We all need to keep an eye out for those near us,” she says. “With families living further away it can be hard to visit. So, taking the time to check in with neighbours…can help to relieve some of that feeling of being overwhelmed and the feeling of stress that many are facing.”
In keeping with Barlow’s view of shared compassion, she notes that receiving the John R. Sweeney Award acknowledgement from SJU is “validating the important work that everyone does on a community level” that she hopes will “affect positive change.”
Sonia Ellison,
nee Beattie
BMATH (Hons) ’94 - Co-op - Interdepartmental studies
Work is no stranger in the Ellison household. At a time when many are struggling with employment loss, Sonia Ellison’s family knows how lucky they are to be at work.
Ellison is a Vice Principal at the Halton Catholic District School Board’s St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School. She worked from home throughout the pandemic up until September, when she returned to her school. Her husband Brian works full time at Costco, while sons Adam and John work at Canadian Tire and Fortino’s grocery store respectively. Her family is proud to be Essential Workers, who are ensuring the community has its needs met because of people like her family who are at work.
“Even though there is a risk, (our) family is putting the needs of others first and making a difference in our community,” Ellison says, although doing so has changed family routines “drastically,” taking all necessary precautions as a family to ensure everyone is safe.
The pandemic has reminded Ellison that we need to have more patience and compassion in the world and to take better care of the environment. She quotes Pope Francis in a reminder that “everything is interconnected and that genuine care of our own lives and our relationships with nature is inseparable from fraternity, justice, and faithfulness to others.”
Ellison’s faith was deepened through her education at St. Jerome’s University, and she notes that “Leadership that is rooted in truth, faith, and justice puts others first and reminds us that when we serve others, ultimately we are serving God.” She is “pleased to share [her] faith with [her] family, colleagues, students, and with the community.”
“As a family of Essential Workers, the Sweeney Award acknowledges our call to share faith in action and make a difference, even in a small way, in the lives of others.”
Thank you, Pat.
Thank you, Sabrina.
Thank you, Sonia.
Thank you to all of our alumni working in essential services.
These two words will never be enough to really demonstrate how much we appreciate what you are doing as Essential Workers. Through your concern and care for the greater community, and your compassion in a world challenged by the pandemic, we are proud to acknowledge you as 2020 recipients of the John R. Sweeney Award for Catholic Leadership.
“As a family of Essential Workers,the Sweeney Award acknowledges our call to share faith in action
and make a difference, even in a small way, in the lives of others.”
-Sonia Ellison, nee Beattie
BMath ‘94
Photo: Bryn Gladding Photography
Great achievements are not new to Cheri Chevalier, BA ’96.
Chevalier has built a successful career at Microsoft, where she has held a number of progressively senior roles within the organization, beginning with the launch of Windows 95. Chevalier is the company’s current Worldwide Sales Director for Emerging Solutions (Dynamics), who has been recognized within and beyond Microsoft for her strategic marketing and leadership skills. She has appeared in Marketing Magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30 List,” and received Microsoft’s Chairman Award - the highest award given to employees globally. In 2020, Chevalier adds the St. Jerome’s University Fr. Norm Choate, C.R., Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award to her list of successes.
Chevalier leads a team of Microsoft professionals responsible for bringing the latest technology innovations to market. She first became connected to the company through a cooperative placement during her time as a student in Waterloo, beginning a career she describes as being “anchored on the St. Jerome’s experience.”
“SJU influenced my career and life’s work through its mission of building leaders who contribute to the community in meaningful ways,” Chevalier notes, adding that she was drawn to St. Jerome’s University for the “extended community” experience. Most of her most memorable moments at the university were ones shared with fellow students, many of whom she remains in touch with today.
The SJU mission of community and making a positive difference in the world has played a large role in Chevalier’s life. Beyond her Microsoft career, she has spent a lot of her volunteer time supporting the community around her. Among her volunteer work roles she has advocated for Women’s Leadership through The Judy Project (a Leadership Forum for Executive Women at the University of Toronto); and has been an active voice in support of the Faculty of Arts and Co-op Education, specifically working with the University of Waterloo. Chevalier is also currently a member of the SJU Board of Governors.
“St. Jerome’s was never just about a static education. It was about bringing your education to life in ways that help others and about leaning in and making a difference in the world around you.”
Chevalier refers to herself as a “talent enabler” recognizing that she “feels success when (she’s) helped others be successful.” Seeing people realize their aspirations and knowing that she has been a part of that is what motivates her. She believes success comes from following what you are passionate about and encourages students and graduates to “hone in on what (your gifts) are and how you can give back to the world and make a difference with that.”
The Fr. Norm Choate, C.R. Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award, honouring the former president of St. Jerome’s University (1979-1989), represents the highest level of recognition given by the University to a member of the alumni who has demonstrated extraordinary accomplishment in their professional life. Congratulations to Cheri Chevalier, for her success giving back to the world and for making the difference she is recognized for.
“St. Jerome’s was never just about a static education.
It was about bringing your education to life in ways that help others and about leaning in and making a difference in the world around you.”
-Cheri Chevalier, BA ‘96
2020 Fr. Norm Choate, C.R. Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient