Sister Rosemary Keegan
Sister Rosemary Keegan, Ph.D is being honored posthumously. She graduated from Community High School in 1947 and entered the novitiate the following October. She earned her BA in Education with a minor in Philosophy from Webster College and took her finals vows as a Sister of Loretto in 1953. She earned her Master's Degree from DePaul University and her PhD. from the University of Northern Colorado.
Sister taught for 15 years in Catholic elementary and high schools, but in 1965 her professional life changed significantly. She was released from teaching in parochial schools in order to design and direct the original program which became Head Start in Denver. She was awarded a 5 million dollar grant to do this.
On November 17, 1981, tragedy struck. Sister arrived at her Head Start office and was confronted by an intruder attempting to steal food vouchers. She was badly beaten left for dead. Fortunately, a coworker arrived and Sister was rushed to the hospital. At the time she was in the midst of studying for her PhD; two days after the accident she asked that her take home test be mailed to her professor at UNC. Her recovery took three years, but she eventually returned to Head Start as a consultant. Even more amazing than her recovery is her attitude toward her assailant whom she forgave and prayed for daily. When she met Pole John Paul II, she asked him to bless a rosary for Willie Loggins, the man who attacked her.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Sister took on Denver Head Start Agency officials accused of defrauding the program. At her insistence, the federal government investigated and found them guilty of mismanaging agency funds.
Sister passed away at the Loretto Motherhouse in Kentucky in 2006, but not before she wrote her autobiography, Like Nun Other, Sister is being honored for her scholarship, but also for the way she lived her life every day, true to the teachings of Jesus, to love one another.
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Trish Koehler Senneff
Trish Koehler Senneff graduated with the Class of 1977. Even in high school, she was a ground breaker. She was a member of the first girls volleyball and track teams, President of the National Honor Society, Illinois State Scholar and Most Valuable Player and All Conference in volleyball.
She continued her education at Aurora University with a double major in Political Science and Writing and Language. She was editor of the university's newspaper, earned a variety of journalism and writing awards, had poetry included in the AU student publication and was a third place winner of the Art Award.
She earned her Juris Doctor from Drake University where she was the winner of two American Bar Association writing awards, Editor-in-Chief of the law school newspaper, Editor of the law school's annual report, Dean's Service Award winner, President's Award winner, Who's Who among American Law students, honorary columnist for the Des Moines Register and a member of the Student-Faculty Relations Committee.
Her law career holds a number of firsts: first female to be elected Whiteside County State's Attorney, first to be unanimously appointed to the Whiteside County Circuit Court, first presiding judge in the 14th circuit and first Whiteside County bar Association president.
In her professional position, she developed the Whiteside County Drug Court and instituted a number of measures to insure the solvency of the Whiteside County Child Advocacy Center, April House. Trish received the Crete Dillon Bowman Women of Achievement Award for community service and was named Self Help Volunteer of the Year. She is a strong supporter of Newman and has sponsored the Trish Koehler Senneff college scholarship for the past 10 years.
Judge Senneff is an outstanding example of excellence in many areas: athletics and academics, the arts and the law. She is a trailblazer and a role model for Newman students, female and male alike.
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Dr. Daniel McCue
Dr. Daniel McCue graduated in 1994. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Notre Dame and a Master's in Secondary Education, also from Notre Dame. He completed his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership with a 4.0 GPA from Spaulding University in 2020.
After college, Daniel entered the ACE (Alliance for Catholic Education) program through Notre Dame. He taught high school Math in Alabama for $10,000.00 a year. At the age of 24, he was named Math Department Chair and his tenure increased the number of students taking Calculus from 15-50.
When he decided to make education his career, Daniel moved to St. Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky where he as taught AP Calculus, Calculus and Physics. He started an Engineering course that morphed into two courses with multiple sections, is in charge of the school's Innovation Lab, and is the St. Xavier's STREAM coordinator. In 2016, he joined students and faculty on a mission trip to Belize where they built a house for a family in one week. When the pandemic began, Dan and his students partnered with the University of Louisville to produce parts for face shields using the school's 3D printer. After the project wound down, he continued to make face shields which he donated to local organizations.
Dan was a Notre Dame Scholar, awarded to the top 10% of incoming freshmen and was honored by the Notre Dame Alumni Association “For Singular Contribution to the Education of Youth.” At St. Xavier, he was named Assistant (football) Coach of the Year and awarded the Joseph Maupin Award given to a coach who demonstrates excellence in the classroom. In 2019, Dan was named one of the two endowed Faculty Fellows which is a lifetime designation for distinguishing himself as a master teacher and mentor to students, as well as an academic leader among peers.
Dan is dedicated to his Catholic faith, inspires and mentors others and continues to give back to the community.
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Dr. Kari Anne Morris Carr
Dr. Kari Morris Carr was the Valedictorian of the Class of 1996. She earned a BA in Psychology and Spanish from Northwestern University after spending her junior year studying in Spain. She earned her Master of Science in Education, also from Northwestern and completed her PhD. in Educational Leadership and Policy at Indiana University.
Kari began her teaching career as part of the Inner-City Teaching Corps at Good Shepherd Elementary School in Chicago's Little Village where she taught Math and used her proficiency in Spanish to communicate with parents, grandparents and students. At Oaks Academy in Indianapolis she taught Math and Logic, was Assessment Administrator, Curriculum Coordinator and Director of Academic Development. She has been a teaching assistant at Indiana University and at Indian University Purdue University Indianapolis. She was a graduate Research Assistant and Project lead at the Center for Urban and Multicultural Education at IU and Managing Editor of the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership.
Kari has coauthored journal articles, book chapters, manuscripts and technical reports dealing with Catholic education in genera; and Charter schools more specifically. In 2013 she became an adjunct professor at IUPUI and is currently a visiting professor there.
Kari's volunteer activities include: Enrollment Committee for the Notre Dame ACE Academies-Indianapolis, St. Joan of Arc School volunteer consultant, Birthline Criss Pregnancy Outreach helpline and volunteer artist at Sunrise Assisted Living.
Kari and her husband, Tony have 5 children. What is striking about her academic success is that when she started her PhD. program, they had one daughter. When she completed her dissertation and graduated they had four children, ages 9, 7, 4 and 3. Kari was able to keep order amidst chaos by emphasizing faith and family first.
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