Living the Regis mission:
Lovia Shipp and Noel Cunningham receive Civis Princeps awards for service to the community and to the world
|
At the May 2006 graduation, Regis University graduates were joined by honorary recipients of Civis Princeps, the highest award at Regis University. Civis Princeps, meaning "First Citizen," is awarded to individuals who live their lives in the service of others. The recipients at the traditional undergraduate and the Rueckert Hartman School for Health Professions ceremony were Noel Cunningham and Lovia Shipp, two people who live the mission of Regis University in their daily and professional lives. President Father Michael Sheeran introduced the recipients and both spoke on the honor of their awards, not only to offer their personal gratitude, but to encourage Regis University graduates to also live according to the mission.
Fr. Sheeran: First, I am pleased to ask Lovie to join me at the podium. I am amazed that I have permission to say this, but Lovie was born in 1927 in East St Louis, IL. She said she grew up- poor as anyone else in town, but happier than most. From that foundation she has used her life to give back to others. St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, said "Love ought to show itself in deeds more than words." That is exactly what Lovie does every time she reaches out to help the homeless in Denver.
A long time supporter of Fr. Woody projects, Lovie donates both financially and with her time. She is a fixture at Regis University Father Woody wrap parties; in December she worked her 24th Father Woody Christmas Party in downtown Denver. This project to bring the true spirit of Christmas to Denver's homeless foundation just wouldn't be the same without Lovie's enduring support.
A graduate of our sister school, the Jesuit St. Louis University, Lovie began working at Holy Ghost Church when she retired after 35 years with the Army and Air Force Finance Centers here and in Missouri. Although her job title at Holy Ghost was secretary, Lovie found herself doing everything from typing to mopping to plumbing to cooking to Eucharistic ministering. Her service to others truly encompasses a wide range of service and commitment.
Above all this was the door lady; she never knew who was going to be on the other side of it, except that most of the time they were in need. When was it right to be utterly generous, and just pat them on the shoulder? When was it right to call them to something more? This is the lady who knew, and she did it so well that Fr. Woody could trust her at all times. She indeed lives Fr. Woody's motto that caring and sharing from the heart gives life its meaning.
I'd like to invite now Regis trustee Mary Joe Barilla to join us at the podium. I mentioned that Lovie performed all sort of duties at Fr. Woody's church. It is really appropriate that our trustee Mary Joe Barilla be here to present the Civis Princeps, because after all, Mary Joe is Lovie's goddaughter- RU in pleased to bestow CP on Lovie for her leadership in service of others, for her life of caring, and for her exceptional dedication to the ideals that guide the university.
Lovia Shipp: My goodness. My goodness. This is better than I ever thought it would be. But first I would like to congratulate all the Regis graduates. I know most of you, I know how hard you worked, not just in your studies, but in your community. That is important to me, and it's important to Regis, and it's the thing that will also pay you. My second part is to thank Fr. Sheeran, trustees, honored guests. Thank you for this amazing award. I know what Civic Princeps stands for. I know what Regis University stands for. This is the best from the best. This is an unbelievable, unbeatable, unforgettable honor. I would like to dedicate this to my many loving friends, a tireless team who have through the years managed to turn the Golden Rule to platinum.* I thank you.
* One of the three "precious metals" along with gold and silver, platinum is the rarest of them all. It is harder than the other precious metals and has a higher melting point, making it difficult to alloy and work with.
Father Sheeran: St. Ignatius of Loyola said "teach us to give and to not count the costs." That is indeed something Noel Cunningham has learned. Noel originally made a name for himself in the culinary world and is the owner of Strings and 2 Union St, where if you are smart, most of you will be celebrating your graduation later today. Considered, the two of them, among Denver's finer restaurants. Today however we are honoring him for his efforts to make the world a better place. Regis students have been enable to take service projects to Africa, thanks to the Cunningham Foundation, established by Noel and his wife Tammy. In June 2003 the CF made it possible for three nursing students to participate in a trip to Ethiopia by awarding them grants to cover 2/3 of the cost of participation. Noel did not simply give financial aid. He and Tammy joined the group, working round the clock in a therapeutic feeding center for severally malnourished children. In 2004, the Cunningham Foundation helped five Regis College students, and five East High School students, along with one staff member from the Regis Library, to participate in a service trip to Ghana, to establish a children's library in a former slave fort. Tomorrow,10 Regis College students and 2 faculty and staff will leave for Ghana to establish another children's library in a kindergarten through eight school in Wesley Girls School. The Cunningham Foundation contributed to this project with a grant of $7500 dollars to help build and furnish that library. Noel knows that development in impoverished communities is about sustainability and finding lasting solutions. And he helps find and find those answers.
Therefore Regis University is pleased to bestow its most significant honor, Civics Preceps, on Noel Cunningham, born in Dublin, the man who has made such an impact in Denver. For his leadership in service to others. For his outstanding accomplishments and for his exceptional dedication to the ideals that guide Regis University.
Noel Cunningham: I must share this with my wife, Tammy. There is absolutely nothing I can do or accomplish without the wonderful support of my wife.
We've heard some words today about changing the world and really what my goal, my dream is, for us in the United States [is] to change our hearts. We live in the most privileged country in the world, and you only come to realize that when you travel.
As Father said, when we were in Ethiopia in 2003, it's one thing to see a child on TV who looks malnourished, but it's a whole other thing to be standing next to a child who is one years old and weights six and a half pounds, and it's touch and go whether they make it.
This university has been extremely instrumental in helping to change a small community in Ethiopia called Yetabon. One story I'd love to share with you about how simple a change can be is when we were there it was really quite profound to look at the children with no shoes, and some of them were walking up to two hours to go to school.
One of your wonderful professors here, Rita Axford, put the perspective of not having shoes in a light that made it really important to make that change. What she explained to me was it was a health issue. It wasn't about all the poor kids with no shoes who were going to hurt their feet. What she explained to us was the animals live inside the house because that is their possessions. They go to the bathroom in the house, and the children step in it, with little cuts in their feet and feces go in there, and so on. And because of changing that into a health issue I'm happy to tell you that now 1,000 kids have a pair of shoes that were made in Ethiopia. And so thank you Rita for putting that into the perspective that it was meant to be in.
I want to congratulate all of you on your wonderful day today. I want to challenge you to be extremely successful in what you do. While you achieve that incredible success, please include the global society. Your school does an amazing job to prepare you for the global economy, but it is worth nothing if we do not include the global society. Maybe try all of you to dedicate 5% of your time and energy to reach out to the continent of Africa and make a difference to the people who have so little materialistically, but have so much spiritually.
One of the last things I will share with you is that we talk about a poverty of wealth. That is that people do not have things. But there are definitely countries in the world where there is a poverty of spirit. The only way that a poverty of spirit will change is by us in the United States reaching out to the people that need too much. One of the ways we can do that the best is by changing our foreign giving and development from 0.15 %, which is one of the lowest in the world, to 0.7 %. And I will ask you to hold the politicians accountable to change that. Again thank you again for a wonderful day today. I am floating on Cloud Nine.