McGreal 10th Anniversary Series: “Team McGreal” Part 1

Every year approximately 1,200 Dominican University members participate in an all-day symposium dedicated to study, and the celebration of the University’s motto, Caritas et Veritas (love and truth). The McGreal Center is a department of Dominican University where we participate every year in the Caritas/Veritas Symposiums. At the 2014 symposium, the Center shared with the University Community how “Team McGreal” lives the Caritas of our Motto:

Caritas in community requires respect for every person. When people come to work in the McGreal Center, we agree to respect one another. “Team McGreal” is a diverse team. We are an intergenerational group: our ages range from 19 to 80 years old. We represent various ethnic and racial groups, learning styles and religious traditions. Each one of us has a distinct personality! And we all work hard to practice the common belief that respect is the foundation for Caritas in community.

Over the past ten years, the McGreal Center community welcomed nearly 100 student workers and volunteers. Without their dedication, hard work, joy and respect for one another, the McGreal Center simply could not be! This article introduces you to the current workers.

Alejandra Anguiano, a junior, studies biology and plans to go to medical school; Noemi Hernandez, a sophomore, hopes to become a physician, particularly a pediatrician. Our two seniors, Caroline Heyworth looks forward to becoming a librarian; Jill Barth aspires to become an archivist. Our graduate student workers, Carlinthia Cox and Maira Herrera will complete their MLIS degree in May 2018. Keep them in your prayer as they both pursue employment as archivists.

Every member of Team McGreal – past or present- understands that the Center   is very important not only for the history of the U.S. Dominican family but also for the history of the United States. When asked to describe the McGreal Center in a few words, Loretta Murray, a McGreal volunteer, wrote: “History lives!”

Ryan Flores, MLIS, a Dominican University alumnus expanded Loretta’s idea. Ryan worked in the McGreal Center as both an undergraduate and a graduate student offered this reflection:

When individuals enter college, they are at a crossroad in life. When making choices on how they should go about their lives, many people tend to abandon or diminish the role that faith plays in their life, many view the Church as an ancient backward institution.

The McGreal Center provides a solution to that. The documents that are housed here are the testaments of the Dominicans that came before us. They have and continue to this day support and encourage a progression towards modernity, while balancing a life of service and devotion to God. The McGreal Center’s documents enlighten us by showing that having faith in God does not mean one is praying all the time, but rather that faith in God can allow us to accomplish great things by providing and caring for others. The actions and consequences of those individuals in each document still have reverberations to this day.

Coming soon you will meet the current McGreal volunteers and learn about their experiences of the McGreal Center!

This article is part of the the McGreal 10th Anniversary series. To view past articles in the series, please click on the links below.