The UW-La Crosse Chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society held its New Member Recognition/Induction ceremony on Sunday, October 25 at 3:30 p.m. in Valhalla. Cecilia Manrique, Political Science/Public Administration, chapter co-advisor and International leadership Council President delivered the Greetings from GK headquarters. Carla Burkhardt, College of Science and Health, chapter co-advisor, introduced the GK officers. Five new Honorary Members were inducted and they are pictured below with Provost Kathleen Enz-Finken who delivered the Welcome for the University, Carla and Cecilia:



Left to right: Carla Burkhardt, Al Trapp, Dr. Thomas Thompson, Representative Jennifer Shilling, Provost Enz-Finken, Dean Ruthann Benson, Dr. Jon Hageseth (who gave the keynote address) and Cecilia Manrique.

UWL 100 Trick or Treat

Carla Burkhardt and Cecilia Manrique together with their UWL 100 Freshman Seminar class would like to thank all those offices, departments and faculty members in Wimberly who contributed to their trick or treat for cans on Wednesday, October 28 – Economics, English, Management, Marketing, Political Science, Sociology, the Small Business Development Center. The cartful of canned goods and other foods was brought to the Involvement Center for the campus food pantry. THANK YOU for your generosity!



Front: Carla Burkhardt, Jennifer DeGrave, Caitlyn Bednarek, Kayla Szydel
Middle: Abigail Diehl, Taylor Smith, Marissa Riordan, Ashley Salwey, Cecilia Manrique, Alec Fitzsimmons
Back: Ricky Pulido, JR Lewis, Kelsey Campbell, Steve Brooks, Blake Ward

Ateneans in Toronto

There are indeed ties that bind and in our case, the Ateneo is a tie that strongly binds. My wife and I spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening with KOB – Toronto, fellow Ateneans I have not seen for more than 38 years. Rey Domondon graciously hosted a gathering that included Mon Carluen, Al Roldan, Ding Bautista, Robert Farolan and Mon Leuterio. Spouses were also present to share the laughs and the camaraderie.
Of course there was a lot of food including a full lechon – we are talking about Pinoys after all. There were reminiscences about Ateneo. There were updates about where life had taken us. But most of all, we got to share our thoughts not just about the Philippines but also about our experiences as immigrants who, whether we choose to or not, still straddle two cultures. Naturally, there were other things we talked about but as Ding said, what happens in Toronto, stays in Toronto.
Ces and I thank the guys and gals who made our brief visit to Toronto very memorable. I do hope we get a chance to visit again. Toronto is a beautiful and cosmopolitan city.
And Louie G. – thanks for establishing and maintaining this group. It is a very valuable tool for maintaining our ties.

Cecilia Manrique, Professor and Chair of Political Science/Public Administration; Carla Burkhardt, Office of the Dean College of Science and Health; and Lisa Jansen, Recording and Corresponding Secretary for the Golden Key UW-La Crosse chapter attended the Golden Key International Conference held in Orlando, Florida on July 31-August 2. The team had a showcase of the work they do with the freshmen in UWL 100 and the mentoring done by Golden Key officers. They presented a workshop on the relationship between advisors and officers entitled “Captain and Crew: Officer - Advisor Relations.” They engaged in community service activities in the Orlando area. The chapter was once again awarded the Gold chapter award.

Manrique attended the Golden Key Board of Directors meeting on July 29-30, chaired the meeting of the International Leadership Council (ILC) as President, and opened and closed the conference. As President she presented the President’s award to Dr. Derek Swemmer of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Manrique was also sworn in for her second three–year term as President of the ILC.

Middle of the Week

So I passed the high school referee test!

I end up refereeing the Winona State University women's soccer game against Loras College last night. Boy, did they make me run! I now ache all over. And to think I have to do it again for high school boys tomorrow.

I spent the whole day (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) in a chairs' workshop. Now my brain is fried! I should rest my body and my brain soon.

The first posting

OK, so I thought I had a blog set up previously but obviously not. So here is another attempt at doing so. I hope to be able to put materials in here especially those having to do with my travels. In the meantime, know that it is a quiet weekend for once. We are home and getting caught up with housework and school work before the mad school year and high school soccer reffing season begin. Which reminds me I have to take my high school ref test so I should start preparing for that in a few minutes.