July 2008

Foundation
Board of Directors
President
David C. Heide

Executive Vice President
Cheryl Wilson

Treasurer
Bruce G. Nawara, C.P.A.

Secretary
Margaret Lehner, Ed.D.

Brian Andersen
Frank R. Barre
Hon. Irene H. Brodie
Vernon Crawley, D.Ed.
Maria DeCaprio-Sunta
Anthony Q. Drake
Philip T. Foster
Barry Gaw
Noreen Ligino-Kubinski
Katie Maier
Egon J. Menker
John Moore
Omar Najib
William J. Opelka
Debra Piscola
Dick Post
Maureen Ryan
Dennis Shannon
Carolyn Viverito
Sandra Wagner
Jon Weglarz

Executive Director
Sue Linn

Message from the President
I am excited and proud, too, that as a result of strong community support, Moraine Valley’s campus expansion is progressing as planned and soon we’ll better meet the needs of a growing population.

The Vernon O. Crawley Science Hall, with teaching labs and dedicated classrooms to provide the latest in instructional technology for students in the health sciences, is expected to open in fall 2009. Also, at that time we anticipate the completion of the Moraine Business and Conference Center, which will serve as an instructional and job training center and home to our culinary arts program. And, finally, the Student Services Center and Student Union is expected to open during summer 2010. These improved facilities will mean better service to our students and the community.

Our enrollment may make us the second largest community college in the state, but it is our dedication to student success that puts us first among the premier community colleges in the nation.

As always, I invite you to visit our campus. Plan to join us this fall at the Fine and Performing Arts Center for a new and exciting season of spectacular entertainment. Be sure to check www.morainevalley.edu for events for you and your family.

It’s a great time to be a part of Moraine Valley—your community college.

Sincerely,

Dr. Vernon O. Crawley
College President

Oak Lawn Rotary awards new scholarship
The members of the Oak Lawn Rotary once again are partnering with Moraine Valley to support student success and help meet the needs of the local community with the establishment of a new scholarship award.

The Oak Lawn Rotary helped spearhead the successful referendum effort that established the community college in 1967 and played a key role in raising needed funds to construct the college’s Fine and Performing Arts Center. Its newly established scholarship fund reflects the Oak Lawn Rotary’s commitment to educational and community support with its focus on meeting a critical need to prepare local residents for careers in health care. To be eligible for the Oak Lawn Rotary scholarship, a student must be a graduate of Oak Lawn or Richards High School, enrolled as a fulltime student planning a career in nursing or an allied health field and carrying at least six hours in nursing or an allied health field during the semester in which the scholarship is awarded. Applicants must submit a brief essay describing his or her career plans and aspirations.

For more information about this award or application procedures, call the Foundation at (708) 974-5335 or e-mail linns@morainevalley.edu.

From the Foundation President

Annual commencement ceremonies and presentations of scholarship awards to current students provide important opportunities to celebrate the many accomplishments of Moraine Valley students. They also remind us of the thousands of successful alumni who live, work and raise families in local communities as well as countless cities around the globe. These men and women are the embodiment of Moraine Valley’s success, and they are important contributors whose financial gifts help provide a margin of excellence that places Moraine Valley among the top-rated community colleges in the state and the nation.

From its inception, Moraine Valley has been fortunate to enjoy an extraordinary level of support from the community. As the Foundation president, I am pleased to acknowledge the ongoing generosity of the Oak Lawn Rotary and the efforts of the Hickey Foundation to establish two new scholarships. I also thank you for your past support of Moraine Valley and its students, and I encourage you to consider some of the ways you can lend your support to the college like we’ve described in this issue, such as corporate or individual participation in the upcoming golf outing, or by making a bequest to the college in your will. We welcome your support.

Sincerely,
David Heide

Melvin Branch used to roll the coins to make sure the bank had enough cash on hand. Now he oversees loans to make sure businesses have enough on hand.

Branch, who graduated from Moraine Valley in the 1990s, worked his way from operating the coin machine and verifying account signatures to his current position as vice president of commercial banking for First Midwest Bank.

“I’ve been working in the banking industry since I was 14 years old,” Branch said. “I started with a high school work study program at Midlothian State Bank where my mom worked.”
 

“It was a life-changing event,” Branch said. “I started out as a computer science major to get the promotion in the data processing department, but then switched to business and ended up in the finance arena.” All the while Branch was in school, he was working full- time.

“Obviously I got only a part-time college experience. I had no social life, but Moraine Valley was very rewarding, and I am a firm believer in and advocate of junior colleges. You get just as quality an education as any other school could offer—and it’s affordable,” he said.

Opportunity continues to knock for Branch, who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Governors State University. “I’m still in banking because I averaged one promotion every year or so. There’s always something new to learn.”

Have speech, will travel
There’s no other way to say it—Moraine Valley’s Forensics team is one of the top speech teams in the country. The newest accolades added to the already impressive list includes a team third-place award and four individual medals earned at the spring Phi Rho Pi national tournament, where Moraine Valley competed against more than 500 participants from 79 teams. Shown here are (back row, from left) Krista Appelquist, assistant professor of Speech and Forensics coach; Matt Weibel, team member; Mike Shannon, instructor of Speech and Forensics coach; Billy Walsh, team captain; John Nash, assistant professor of Speech and Forensics coach; Muhanad Adas; (front row, from left), Kim Saltin, Elvia Anguiano, and Jairus Bellamy, team members.
 

Get into the Swing

Change of venue sends Lanigan
to sunshine state

Like thousands of college kids in the 70s, Tom Lanigan loved to hit the beaches in Florida for spring break. Little did he realize, however, that this sunny side of the country would become home to his family and a promising career for him with the United States government.

The path to becoming an Assistant U.S. Attorney was a long one that actually began on the campus of Moraine Valley when Lanigan was a staff member in the Office of Campus Safety and Security run, at that time, by John Burian. “I remember we drove around campus in an old truck we called, ‘Big Green.’ That was our version of a squad car.” Lanigan said. “John was a great role model. He ran a very organized office and almost everyone went on to a job in law enforcement,” he said, including himself.

Following graduation from Moraine Valley and Northern Illinois University, Lanigan spent the next seven years patrolling the streets of Chicago’s Englewood and Morgan Park districts before enrolling in law school. After receiving his juris doctorate from Northern Illinois University, he accepted a position in the western states with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“While I was working as a special agent investigating criminal activities out west, I saw the U.S. attorneys handling all these cases and I decided that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a U.S. general attorney,” Lanigan said. The successful pursuit landed him in a south Florida district office where he handles complex white collar crimes.

He may be a long way from home, but Lanigan has very fond memories of his first few years in college. “I wasn’t really sure what I had wanted to do, so going to Moraine Valley was the right decision. It worked out well, too, because it was affordable and I was able to work parttime,” he said. “I remember there was always a lot happening on campus, like the celebration of the bicentennial. I really did enjoy it at Moraine.”

To be eligible for this newly established scholarship, a student must be a single mother enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours in nursing, demonstrate financial need, and submit a brief essay describing her financial need and career plans. For more information about this award or application procedures, call the Foundation Office at (708) 974-5335 or email linns@morainevalley.edu.

Donors who provide financial gifts to support Moraine Valley and its students can gain a number of benefits from a bequest in their wills to the Moraine Valley Community College Foundation. This widely utilized form of planned giving helps donors ensure their assets will be distributed according to their wishes and can reduce or sometimes eliminate estate taxes.

Based on the purpose of a gift, the type of assets to be distributed and the financial goals of the individual making the gift, a bequest can name the Moraine Valley Community College Foundation as a primary or partial beneficiary of any of the following:

• Cash, stock, bonds, real estate or personal property that will be distributed through a will. Professional advisors such as an attorney can recommend appropriate language that specifies the assets to be distributed and clarifies whether the gift is to be restricted to a particular use or is provided as an unrestricted gift to be applied by the Moraine Valley Foundation to best meet the college’s needs at the time the gift is received.
• Retirement plans and IRAs. This type of bequest is typically made by obtaining a beneficiary designation form from the retirement plan administrator and naming Moraine Valley Foundation as the entire, or partial, beneficiary of the retirement plan assets upon the owner’s death.
• Life insurance policies. Bequests of all or a portion of the proceeds of existing or new policies may be made by naming the Moraine Valley Foundation as a beneficiary of the policy on the beneficiary designation form.

When naming the Moraine Valley Community College Foundation as a beneficiary in a will or trust or as a beneficiary or a contractual arrangement, such as an insurance policy or retirement account, the following legal identification should always appear: “The Moraine Valley Community College Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation located in Palos Hills, Illinois."

Check with your accountant, tax attorney or other tax advisor for information about the types of bequests that will be most advantageous for your situation. You are also invited to contact the Foundation Office at (708) 974-5335 or visit www.morainevalley.edu/foundation. We would be happy to talk with you about gifts you may be considering.

Former Faculty Member Includes
Moraine Valley in Estate Planning

Sandy Broadbent gave so much to Moraine Valley students in her many years as a counselor and will continue to do so even after her passing.

Ms. Broadbent, who was a counselor at the college for 20 years until she lost her battle with cancer in 2007, has designated a considerable percentage of her estate to be used for student scholarships.

“Realizing the importance of an education, Sandy really wanted to give back to help others continue their education because her education opened so many doors for her,” said Paula Adduci, counselor in the college’s Counseling and Career Development Center. “She channeled her emotions into positive endeavors and was really quite an educator. She was always helping people learn.”

“Sandy’s devotion to Moraine Valley students was apparent to everyone, and her spirit will live on through the scholarships,” said Sue Linn, Foundation director. “We are extremely appreciative of her very generous gift.”

For more information about including Moraine Valley in your estate planning, contact the Foundation at (708) 974-5335 or linns@morainevalley.edu.

A luminous career path

You could say a light bulb went on for Gary Misicka that sparked a new career—and a bright future. While attending Moraine Valley in the early 1990s, Misicka, who had contemplated pursuing a career in law enforcement, began a part-time job at Lyons and Pinner Electric Companies, a job that quickly sparked his interest in a new career.

Soon he was accepted into Moraine Valley’s (former) apprentice program with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134, while continuing his work for Lyons and Pinner.

Eighteen years later, Misicka is still employed with the same company that piqued his curiosity, but now he’s running the operations. “I worked my way up from journeyman to foreman, and then to project manager,” Misicka said.

In 1998, he was promoted to general manager and today, he is the vice president, overseeing virtually all aspects of the company’s operations in electrical construction.

“It’s a great company to work for,” said Misicka, who is happy he got his start at Moraine Valley. “I wasn’t sure exactly what career path I’d take so I thought Moraine Valley would be a good place to start. And, it was,” he said.

“I would absolutely recommend community colleges. Let’s face it; a four-year university is not cheap. If you can receive the same education at a substantial reduction in cost, I say why not? Economically it makes perfect sense.”

Whether it's been 10, 20 or even 35 years since you completed classes, a certificate program or an associate's degree at Moraine Valley—we welcome the opportunity to reconnect with you.

Alumni involvement enables us to enhance the Moraine Valley experience for current and future students in so many ways. Serve as a mentor, volunteer on an advisory committee or assist in developing internship opportunities—the possibilities are endless—and rewarding.

We value you as alumni and invite you to reconnect with us.