June 16, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Cristina Diaz
Media and Community Relations Manager
215.753.3664
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Chestnut Hill College alumna, Kathleen Shea Pié ’87, ’92 SGS, was awarded the 2016 Eleanore Dolan Egan ’28 Award for Outstanding Service to Chestnut Hill College at its 70th Annual Reunion Weekend, which took place June 3-5. Pié was honored at the reunion luncheon for her more than 32 years of service to the College in various volunteer and leadership roles.
Responding to a request from her future mother-in-law to help with a college fundraiser, this Wilmington, Del. resident ventured onto the path of volunteerism for the College as a freshman and hasn’t looked back to this day. Pié went on to make calls and stuff envelopes for the Annual Fund and gave tours to prospective students as well as hosting high school students who wanted to attend a class and stay overnight. Her grandmother, Mae Renzulli, who worked in the Office of Alumni Relations for 20 years, also encouraged her efforts by volunteering her services often. “Volunteering just became a part of my CHC experience,” said Pié.
Pié worked on the yearbook staff and was its editor for two years. As an English major, with a minor in Communications, she also helped out with the tutoring club. Later, she served for several years as secretary of the Alumni Association Board of Directors and for several more as a member-at-large during the sometimes challenging era that saw the revision of the Bylaws and the move to becoming a coed institution.
Today, Pié, who earned her master’s degree in elementary education from CHC, teaches 8th grade language arts in Wilmington, Del., and fans the flame of volunteerism in her four sons through work with their parish and in various ways throughout the community. “In all areas of life, if you’re enjoying what you’re doing, you do it well.”
She calls her experience as a student a major turning point and life-defining experience. “I got an outstanding education, made wonderful, lifelong friends and gained a great husband and extended family.” She is thrilled that she continues to live close enough to the College to participate as fully as possible. These days that participation continues to include working at Reunion, which she helped organize and ran every year for more than a decade. “It was a great way to give back to the school and stay in touch with friends who were all moving to different areas — before the era of Facebook,” she remembers. “And I loved doing it!”
Before College staff were assigned to plan and manage Reunion, volunteers pretty much ran the show. Pié came in weeks in advance to set up room reservations and the dining hall, along with all the myriad little details that go into a successful event. The group of volunteers she worked with became so close that she never considered avoiding the work, even after the College’s Office of Institutional Advancement hired staff to do the bulk of the planning.
“I love working the registration desk and finding out where everyone is coming from,” she says. “That’s a lot of fun. And believe it or not, I love trouble-shooting. Along with Kathleen Quigley Grimm (Class of ’87) … if there’s a room issue, we like to fix it. Adding a last-minute guest to a specific table at the luncheon? We’ll handle it.”
Even though she moves from registration desk to other areas of responsibility throughout the weekend, she still manages to attend the dinner, the barbecue and other events. “And I love to stand at the back of the room and listen to Sister Carol’s speech and watch the award recipients.”
About the Eleanore Dolan Egan ’28 Award
The Eleanore Dolan Egan ’28 Award for Outstanding Service to Chestnut Hill College recognizes the special contributions of Chestnut Hill College alumni to the College through its Alumni Association. The award was first introduced in 1999, 70 years after the founding of the Alumnae Association. It is named in memory of the first president of the Alumnae Association, Eleanore Dolan Egan, who was a member of the College’s first graduating class in 1928 and a model of volunteerism.
About Chestnut Hill College
Celebrating more than 90 years of tradition, Chestnut Hill College is a four-year, coed Catholic college in the Ignatian tradition that offers a traditional liberal arts undergraduate program as well as accelerated undergraduate degrees, master’s and doctoral programs. The College has been rated by US News & World Report as among the best master’s universities in the North, as among the best Northeastern colleges by The Princeton Review, and has been classified as selective by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Since 1924, the College has offered a rigorous curriculum that provides students with a broad background in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The goal of Chestnut Hill College has been to prepare students for life’s challenges by helping them to grow intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, and socially. http://www.chc.edu/
###
