University Presidents Urge Tomorrow's Work Force Students To 'dream Big'

Attendees at the 2018 Tomorrow’s Work Force Luncheon listened as the new presidents of our town’s two universities urged students to dream big. They also joined the presidents, sponsors and students’ family members in saluting high schoolers – 16 each from Mater Dei and Reitz Memorial – as 2018 Leadership Award honorees.

Mater Dei senior Emily Herrmann and Reitz Memorial senior Sarah Fruit also were honored as the 2018 Tomorrow’s Work Force Scholarship recipients. They each will receive a $1,000 college scholarship.

Emily is the daughter of Michael and Jane Herrmann. They are members of Evansville’s Corpus Christi Parish. She has a 3.9 grade-point average at Mater Dei and will major in nursing, with a minor in psychology, at either Murray State University or the University of Southern Indiana.

Sarah is the daughter of Bob and Kim Fruit. They are members of Evansville’s Good Shepherd Parish. She has a 3.6 grade-point average at Reitz Memorial and will attend the University of Southern Indiana majoring in dietetics.

Evansville Catholic High Schools sponsored the Oct. 4 event at the Old National Events Plaza. Father Ed Schnur, priest-delegate to the Mater Dei Board of Trustees and pastor of St. Wendel Parish in St. Wendel and St. Francis Xavier Parish in Poseyville, announced the Mater Dei honorees. Benedictine Father Godfrey Mullen, priest-delegate to the Reitz Memorial Board of Trustees and rector of St. Benedict Cathedral Parish in Evansville, announced the Reitz Memorial honorees.

The full list of Leadership Award honorees includes:

Mater Dei – Herrmann, Macey Adler, Aaron Lovell, Emily Braun, Morgan Swallows, Kelsi Raben, Jossie Hudson, Anna Bury, Grant Schneider, Caroline Gorman, Jonah Kunkler, Victoria Zigenfus, Alexandra Maurer, Lily Becker, Gabriel Gries and Jessica Angermeier.

Reitz Memorial – Fruit, Addie Schnautz,, Claire Sievern, Rachel DeLancey, Grace Mohr, Elizabeth Jewell, Nicholas Folz, Sophia Thompson, Olivia Kalna, Olivia Stratman, Cary Klein, Ellen Hayhurst, Kristen Lockard, Nicole Neisen, Grace Martin and Emma Mattingly.

2018 Tomorrow’s Work Force Committee co-chair Daniela Vidal of USI moderated a lively Q&A session featuring Ron Rochon, the new president of USI, and Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz, the new president of the University of Evansville. The men urgred the students to dream big, and they agreed that they service institutions of higher learning that seek to provide students opportunities to see their potential.

Presidents Rochon and Pietruszkiewicz were educated in Catholic schools – Rochon on the south side of Chicago and Pietruszkiewicz in the Scranton, Pa., area. Each saluted Evansville Catholic Schools for educating students mentally and spiritually.

During opening remarks, Vidal and her committee co-chair, Matt Folz of Harding Shymanski and Co., PSC, noted that sponsors in the greater Evansville business community had helped Tomorrow’s Work Force raise more than $1.5 million since the program’s 2001 inception.