Honoring Our Distinguished Alumni: Elizabeth George Ivers & MaryEllen Swartzenberg Elia

Departmental alums Elizabeth George Ivers and MaryEllen Swartzenberg Elia, classmates in the graduating class of 1970, were recently honored by the Daemen College/Rosary Hill College Alumni Association. The blog post below includes profiles of Ivers and Elia and photos from their visits to campus in 2017 and 2018.

by Penny Messinger

The Distinguished Alumni Award

In November 2017, Elizabeth George Ivers (History & Government, '70) received Daemen's Distinguished Alumni Award. The Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor that Daemen College confers upon its alumni. Ms. Ivers was the 34th person to receive the Distinguished Alumni Award since it was established in 1986.

Elizabeth George Ivers during her semester in England

Ivers graduated from the History and Political Science Department (then known as History & Government Department) in 1970, when Daemen was named Rosary Hill College. Ivers began her career in corporate America on the strength of her History & Government degree and two courses in accounting. She later earned an MBA from the University at Buffalo as she climbed the corporate ladder at Twin Fair (based in Buffalo), where she held the position of corporate accounting manager. Relocating to Texas, Ivers had a 17-year career with Houston-based Browning-Ferris Industries, where she reached the position of vice president, investor relations. She also worked with Houston-based EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States. Ivers was director, investor relations, when she retired in 2013.

Ivers with Ann Richards (Governor of Texas, 1991-93)

In her acceptance speech, Ivers recalled her time at the college and in the department with fondness and enthusiasm, emphasizing that her education provided her with "the solid foundation for my life's journey." She emphasized the impact of the semester-long study-abroad experience she shared in England with several History & Government classmates, three of whom attended the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony (more below).

The versatile History & Political Science degree

Ivers described her experiences as a student in our department in her acceptance speech:

I loved the History and Government program and felt it gave me a fantastic, informed base for my future career....Daemen gave me a liberal arts education that encouraged me to think for myself, to write well, to gain perspective, to critically analyze, to ask the right questions, to think logically and to make ethically sound choices, skills I used and refined throughout my 43-year career in corporate America. 

We had personal contact with our outstanding professors -- Dr. Cuddy, Dr. Starkey, Mr. Predmore, Sr. Georgia Dunn, Sr. Jeanne File, Sr. Aline, Mr. Pack, to name just a few. Interaction with real people in a small class environment. What a blessing that was to have...

I am thankful for a college experience that gave me a fantastic base to pursue a distinguished career, which I loved, and encouraged me to give back and be involved in the communities in which I have lived.

Ivers concluded by urging the audience--including many students--to recognize the ways that their education at Daemen could create future success:

We have resided in Houston for almost 30 years...and there is an old Texas expression that I loved when I first heard it and have tried to embrace: "You should never forget who brought you to the dance." It has been my pleasure to remember the times during my college years and how Daemen shaped my life and helped me become the person that I am today. I feel blessed to have been able to support Daemen over the years to help continue its mission to prepare students for life and leadership in an increasingly diverse and complex world. I certainly encourage all of you to support, in whatever manner and amount that you can, those institutions, those organizations, and those people that have helped you to become who you are on your life's journey. It's your choice. Don't ever forget who brought you to the Dance!

Classmates in the History & Government Department

Elizabeth George Ivers, Mary Ellen Swartzenberg Elia, Nora Wren Kerr, and Mary Jo Carroll Kenna were friends and classmates in the History & Government Department (graduating class of 1970). The four studied abroad together at Wroxton College, near London. All have gone on to have successful careers; Elia is the current New York Commissioner of Education; Kerr has worked as an architect, and Kenna as a speech therapist. The classmates fondly recalled their time together in the History & Government Department at Daemen. Discussing the student culture of the late 1960s, Elia noted that students in the department became politically active in the community. The classmates drew connections between their education at Daemen and the careers they pursued after graduating. For Elia, this included her years as a social studies teacher followed by a career in educational administration.

History & Government alumnae from the class of 1970: MaryEllen Swartzenberg Elia, Elizabeth George Ivers, Nora Wren Kerr, & Mary Jo Carroll Kenna. The four were classmates in the department and also participated in a study-abroad trip to Oxford University's Wroxton College. (November 2017)

MaryEllen Swartzenberg Elia: Advancement in Career Award (October 2018)

In October 2018, MaryEllen Swartzenberg Elia received the Advancement in Career Award from the Daemen College/Rosary Hill College Alumni Association. Elia, currently New York's Commissioner of Education, was recognized for her success as a career educator. After her 1970 graduation from Rosary Hill College, Elia worked as a social studies teacher at Sweet Home High School before becoming a school administrator in Florida. In her comments, Elia thanked her classmates, noting her closeness with those who traveled to Wroxton:

It [the trip to Europe] was one of the best things that I did in my life, particularly in my career here at Daemen. 

I think it opens your eyes when you travel to other places. You see things that need to be done in the world; you see things that are doing really well here, and you also get the idea of things that need to change in your life....Interestingly enough, the people that I went to Europe with are the people that I see most often from Daemen.

Ivers, Elia, and classmates embark on their journey to Wroxton

Elia continued, describing the continuity between her years at Daemen and the College today:

I think that one of the things that helped me so much, when I came to Daemen, was the quality of the staff here...but also the dedication of people to really thing about community, and what we need to do to support all of our communities. The work that is being in New York by our teachers is the work that needs to be done across this country. The work that we have here in the Daemen Education Department, the History Department, the Math Department--we're really creating the people who can make our communities great.

New York Education Commissioner MaryEllen Swartzenberg Elia & Daemen College President Gary Olson

Students, alumni, and faculty from the History & Political Science Department attending the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Ceremony. From L-R: Maddie Ruger (HST major), Gabby Sinnott (H&P major), Tori Newmann-Campbell (PSC major), Damian Desbordes (PSC '08), Dr. Penny Messinger, MaryEllen Swartzenberg Elia, Elizabeth George Ivers, Dr. Lisa Parshall, & Mary Jo Carroll Kenna.

Elia, Ivers, and Kenna at the 2018 Distinguished Alunni Awards ceremony, October 2018

Connecting with current students

The History & Political Science Department held receptions (in 2017 and 2018) to introduce our current majors to Ivers and classmate Mary Jo Carroll Kenna, and to allow students to talk about their current educational interests and their plans for life after graduation.

Departmental faculty & students pose with Ivers and Kenna, Oct. 2018

Elizabeth George Ivers and Mary Jo Carroll Kenna, October 2018

Maddie Ruger & Gabby Sinnott at the Distinguished Alumni Dinner

Civics Education in the spotlight

 

Civics education--or perhaps more accurately, the harmful consequences resulting from the erosion of civics education--has become a hot topic in education circles. 

 

Statue of Liberty, photo by David Restivo, National Park Service

By Penny Messinger

In response to the impact of a "fake news" epidemic and widespread discussion of ignorance of how the government works, educators are rediscovering the importance of the disciplines of History and Political Science. Not only is the knowledge of History and Political Science essential for the education of citizens, but they also play a crucial role in creating a base of factual knowledge that helps people to evaluate the information they encounter.

As it turns out, that there is great importance in learning how to "think like an historian" and to evaluate sources for reliability, accuracy, and perspective. Framed as "media literacy," the fundamental toolkit of the historian is important for everyone. An article from the December 21, 2016, issue of Slate magazine entitled "Media literacy courses help high school students spot fake news" emphasizes the importance and effectiveness of the historian's toolkit by detailing a pilot effort by Standford History Education Group to address the epidemic of fake news. As the article explains,

"The news literacy initiative is based in the Stanford History Education Group that [education professor Sam] Wineburg founded in 2002 to train teachers how to use primary sources and help students critically evaluate historical claims. The group also created a free digital curriculum called “Reading Like a Historian” that’s been downloaded more than 3 million times, according to Wineburg."

Link to Stanford History Education Group's curriculum

The media literacy initiative is a response to widespread evidence of the power of fake news in shaping Americans' perceptions of politics. Fake news has been identified as an important factor in shaping voters' decision-making in the 2016 presidential election, a problem that was heightened by the echo chamber of social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. (See, for example, Vox's Nov. 16 story, "Facebook's Fake News Problem, Explained")

Image from Snopes.com's "Field Guide to Fake News Sites & Hoax Purveyors"

A November 30, 2016, story published in The Heckinger Report revealed that a substantial majority of high school and college students were not able to distinguish fake news from real news:

"Among the hair-raising findings: 93 percent of college students tested were unable to flag a lobbyist’s website as a biased source of information. Younger students fared poorly, too. Fewer than 20 percent of high school students knew that simply looking at one photo online is not enough research to gauge if something is really happening. And among middle school students, 80 percent did not understand that “sponsored content” on a news organization’s website is paid advertising."

How can we evaluate the validity of online sources? As it turns out, the same approach that historians use for evaluating primary sources can be used to teach media literacy. As Slate author Chris Berdik notes:

Even before a deluge of fibs and fakery swamped our recent election cycle, [education professor Sam] Wineburg and company realized that readers of online news need many of the same skills used by a good historian, such as identifying the sources of claims and asking questions about their evidence. After all, what shows up in your Twitter or Facebook feed can come from anywhere, and a post-election BuzzFeed analysis suggested the fake stuff spreads faster than real news, thanks to hyper-partisan readers blindly sharing sensational headlines.

What does it mean to "read like an historian"? As the Stanford History Education Group's website explains, "This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues. They learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence."

Check out the online history curriculum developed by the Stanford Education Group, available here. Or, better yet, enroll in a history class at Daemen where you can apply these approaches yourself.

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The erosion of civics education is also to blame for the lack of basic knowledge of how the political system functions. Some states are re-examining the curricula used in K-12 classrooms and calling for revisions. A December 23, 2016, story from Education Week magazine, entitled "Civics Tests as a Graduation Requirement: Coming Soon to a State Near You?", provides a good overview of the state-level effort to mandate a civics tests for high school seniors.

Immigrants becoming citizens in Atlanta naturalization ceremony, 2012 (CNN)

While all states have some version of a civics education requirement for high school students, the adequacy and effectiveness of these requirements are being questioned. In response, some states have adopted laws requiring high school students to pass a test similar to the National Citizenship Test that is a part of the naturalization test for immigrants seeking to become American citizens. 

Could you pass the National Citizenship Test? Check out the list of the 100 questions included on the test, at this link.  When immigrants seek to become naturalized citizens, they are given a test consisting of 10 questions from the list of 100 questions, and must correctly answer 6 of the 10 questions to pass the test. You can find more information about this test at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website.