LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY100.lmu.edu/Assets/Centennial/Website/Oral+History/Kristi+Gon...LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY ... Your name is Kristi Gonsalves-McCabe? ... full of student

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY

Centennial History Project Interview: Kristi Gonsalves-McCabe, 1993

August 28, 2010

Ubiqus/Nation-Wide Reporting & Convention Coverage 2222 Martin Street, Suite 212 – Irvine, CA 92612

Phone: 949-477-4972 Fax: 949-553-1302


Centennial History Project Interview: Kristi Gonsalves-McCabe 1

Kristi Gonsalves-McCabe Interview

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MS. KAYLA BEGG: Your name is Kristi Gonsalves-McCabe?

MS. KRISTI GONSALVES-MCCABE: Yes.

MS. BEGG: You attended LMU first in 1989 to 1993 for English Lit?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Yes.

MS. BEGG: That's my major too.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Oh really? Okay, good then.

MS. BEGG: Then you went back in 1995 for a Master's in Pastoral Studies?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Yes and I was on staff in Campus Ministry from '95 to '97 and a Resident Chaplain from '95 to '98.

MS. BEGG: Okay, cool. I would like to start with your decision to attend LMU in 1989. Why did you decide to go to LMU?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: When I first came on campus I experienced something that just felt really different than what I had experienced at other campuses. There was just something about the spirit of the place and the people that I met when I was on campus that attracted me to it. It wasn’t anything that I could exactly put my finger on but it felt different—I could tell it was going to be a place where I was going to grow and where I was going to meet some amazing people. And once I learned about the Student Worker program, I knew that LMU was the place for me.

MS. BEGG: Cool. Did the fact that LMU is a Catholic or Jesuit institution factor into your decision to attend? I know you just said that it wasn't necessarily a specific factor but we're just trying to find out how many people actually thought about the fact that it's Catholic.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It definitely did. Growing up in San Jose I had a lot of friends that had gone to a Jesuit high school and they spoke very highly of the sense of tradition and the Jesuits themselves. I think that even though I wasn't really necessarily aware of it at that time I can see now that I



really wanted a place where my faith would be nurtured and I would be encouraged to grow. LMU’s Catholic identity definitely played a role in my decision to go there.

MS. BEGG: How prevalent was Catholicism on campus? I know that in my experience there are a lot of students that go to LMU that aren't necessarily Catholic. When you went were there a lot of Catholic students and Catholic activities or was it similar to how it is now where it is pretty evenly split?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It's somewhat hard to remember but I definitely feel it was a place where if you sought out support for your faith then you could easily find it. You didn't have to look very hard at all because there were people within the residence halls, there was Campus Ministry, there were many retreats; there were the masses on Sunday. Actually when I started at LMU I really didn't know that I was looking for a place where my faith would be nurtured so when I started a LMU I wasn't going to mass. For a variety of reasons and influences I started going to mass and then my roommate, who was also student worker, but she worked as a sacristan on the side. She invited me to consider doing that and then that just opened up all the doors for me. Doing that, among a few other things, helped me to really identify with my faith and make it a much stronger part of my life.

MS. BEGG: In what ways do you think being educated at a Catholic—

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MS. BEGG: --university differ from an education at a public institution? Did you have any friends who experienced education at a public institution and did it differ from what you experienced in that sense?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Yes. I really didn't catch all that but I think what you asked is about what would be some of the differences as far as LMU versus a public school.

MS. BEGG: Yes.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Okay.

MS. BEGG: Just how your education differed at LMU because it was a Catholic institution compared to a public school.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Oh, okay. I think that we could very



easily in the classroom and outside of the classroom have conversations about values in a different way. It wasn't because everyone understood that not everyone was Catholic but you could employ a world view that included a religious perspective without thinking that you were going to alienate people or make people uncomfortable. That is real important I think because otherwise our religious background takes a back seat to everything. The students are having to, in the shadows nurture their own sense of spirituality and their faith.

I think inside the classroom that made a difference because of the sorts of things we could talk about and I think I felt that it made for livelier discussions. I've never attended a public university, so it's hard to say for sure. I think the whole idea of cura personalis really makes a difference for how students get treated. You're never going to be a number, you're always going to be a person. Smallish classes, individualized attention, mentoring and academic support and support for all the different aspects of your life—all of these things make a difference at a place like LMU.

I think those things are a priority because of the values, the Catholic Christian values that are part of the institution. How I would say it is its just part of the water. It doesn't feel like an inconvenience to care for people - - . It's just what you do. It's not like knowing - - on our job description. It's why we work there. It's because we want - - students and be a part of the transformation into adulthood.

MS. BEGG: Right. You've mentioned several times over the past couple of minutes that you were in the student worker program. I was wondering if you could tell me about your experiences as a student worker.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: After graduating from an all girls Catholic high school in San José and having been raised in a family of all girls, three girls, I entered the student worker program because it was a way to help offset the cost of a great, but expensive education.

I found about it from a high school friend who was in his sophomore year at LMU and I entered the program that summer. After I graduated from high school I moved into Loyola Apartments in probably July of 1989 and at that time there were still 24 students in the program but at that time only 4



of them were women. It was 20 men and 4 women so the 4 women, we lived in one of the little apartments, it was Loyola #34 and the other apartments were all occupied by men in the program.

That really completely shaped my whole college experience. It was like having 20 brothers and 3 sisters and it gave me incredible work experience and instilled in me a work ethic that has remained to this day and also a pride in what I do. And it's made it virtually impossible for me to walk by a piece of litter without picking it up, which is a good thing. I think that they still pick up trash on Saturdays, I’m not sure.

MS. BEGG: Yes they do.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Every Saturday morning the student workers picked up trash at 8 a.m., they called it CT or Campus Trash and it was a great tradition although a bit humbling at times but in a great way.



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Those guys I still keep in touch with, almost everyone from my student worker days. I always make it to the reunions whenever I can and I always felt like that group of people would take a bullet for me if it was ever required. It was a really, really amazing program.

MS. BEGG: Awesome.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Actually I had some great jobs being a student worker. I worked in the mailroom. I worked a summer at Conferences and Scheduling. I worked in what was then called Student Activities, I think it changed to Student Life around the time I was there.

It was such a profound experience for me and the work experience was definitely a big part of it. I met so many people on campus especially delivering the mail because I got to meet a lot of the Jesuits and a lot of the staff across campus. Then after awhile it would take me forever to do my mail runs because I would stop and visit with people and check in with the different secretaries and see how they all were doing. I still tell people that that was one of my all-time favorite jobs because I got to know so many different people on campus delivering the mail.



MS. BEGG: That's cool.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Yes, it was so fun. It was really fun. And the mailroom actually at that time was where I think Jamba Juice is in there now. Is Jamba Juice still there? That was the mailroom.

MS. BEGG: Oh really?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It was tiny and there was a whole wall of student mail boxes so on the Ignatius Circle side - - where Jamba Juice is that kind of looks toward Doheany [p] that was full of student mailboxes and you had to share a mailbox with your roommate.

If you didn't get along with your roommate then you never know if you were getting all your mail. It's pretty funny. It's changed a lot. I can't remember what year it was when the mail moved over to the other side of campus. It was so tiny, it was this tiny room and of course, LMU was a fair amount smaller then but all the mail, we'd have to go to the post office and get the mail every morning and bring it over and then - - in this tiny, tiny room.

MS. BEGG: I'm having a hard time imaging all the mail in that little room that Jamba Juice is in.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: They may have - - the walls a little bit but I don't think it was much bigger than their Jamba Juice booth now.

MS. BEGG: Wow. I noticed in your bio that you were a member of Gryphon Circle. I was wondering if you could tell me about the organization and what kinds of experiences you had as a member of Gryphon Circle.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: What I really appreciated about being a part of Gryphon Circle was that it really helped me connect with other women an campus. I came from an all-girl's high school and a family with three girls. After being immersed into this almost all-male environment of the Student Workers, Gryphon Circle really helped me to appreciate and nurture my feminine side and to be engaged in service and prayer with some really amazing women who played a really positive role in my life.

It was through Gryphon Circle that I really got to know Sister Peg. Really one of the most powerful things about those years, was having so much contact with Sister Peg who



is just an incredible, incredible woman. She changed a lot of lives and she meant a lot to all of us. Also, being in service to both the off-campus, larger community really instilled in me a desire to incorporate the aspect of service in everything that I do, whether it's passing out worship aids at mass or tutoring kids in inner city LA. The way I would describe it now I would say it really helped me to try to live hospitably, if that makes any sense. Those were wonderful years. I was really grateful to be a part of Gryphons.

Then later on when I worked in Campus Ministry I got to be a moderator for Sursum Corda too which was also a wonderful experience.



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I enjoyed helping the students who were leading the service organizations, just helping them however I could. It was really fun to be a part of that and learn more about some of the organizations that are serving the needs of people. Since Sursum Corda was fairly new at that time, it was really fun to be working in those early years to establish traditions and things like that within the organization.

MS. BEGG: Cool. I also see that you were a member of the Christian Life Community.


MS. BEGG: Can you tell me what it was like to be in the CLC? Also I think I've got a note here that you were in its founding year. If you could just tell me what it's like to be a part of that organization when it's first starting. I only know CLC after it's been around for several years and its pretty well built up and running. What was it like for you?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It's a lot. I think it was probably sometime during my sophomore year; I can't remember which. I want to say it was my sophomore year, so '90-'91.

Father Jim Erps was gathering a group of students to do this thing that none of us had ever heard of called CLC and he was gathering some students that he thought might be interested. My roommate, Cece Aguilar was the one who told me about it.



I thought I'd give it a try so we showed up for the first meeting and there was Father Jim, who I know you know is back at LMU now, which is sort of fun.

He was just trying it out to see how it looked. We started meeting and I don't remember how many names I could remember, but there was some really good solid folks who joined as part of that group. One of them was the student body president or he would be the in the next year. My roommate, Cece Aguilar and anyway long story short, there was this group of us and we started meeting and Father Erps would meet with us and I think we met every week initially. It turned out to be one of most amazing experiences of my college career.

We just got to know each other really well. We talked about things that you wouldn't normally talk about with your college friends. A lot of us started to make decisions about our lives and our careers and our post-graduation plans and I think were probably all changed because of what happened in that group. For me deciding to do the Jesuit Volunteer Corps came out of my CLC experience. Not entirely but the chance that group gave me to reflect on my life and what I really wanted to be about as an adult really shaped me. As I moved forward from these years, I asked myself: “what do I really want to do; what is my heart telling me?”

I remember very clearly one time watching the movie "The Mission" together in CLC. That was really amazing. In fact, I think there was an earthquake while we were watching that movie so we had to go downstairs and then wait awhile until we got the all clear and then we went back upstairs and watched the rest of it.

I think that Father Jim was living in Tenderich at the time and I think we watched it in his apartment if I'm not mistaken. I had never heard of the movie or didn't know a lot about the Jesuits yet at that point so that was really an amazing experience.

MS. BEGG: Just to clarify, can you tell me Father Jim's full name?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Father Jim Erps, S.J., who is now the Director of Campus Ministry. It was a wonderful experience and I have, again, some folks that I keep in touch with from that group that will be my friends forever. I am so grateful because it just helped me to understand that as Christians we're not supposed to engage in the journey all by ourselves;



that we need each other for support and sometimes for accountability—



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: --and to offer each other strength when times are hard. I just remember praying with those folks and the sharing and the laughing. Oh my gosh, we laughed a lot, a lot, a lot and it was really, really good.

It was an amazing group of people and of course, at that time we had no idea. We were the only group on campus that year and it's amazing to me how in those, less than 20 years, LMU has a reputation of being the school of all the 28 Jesuit schools-- for CLC. Every single person that I have ever talked to about CLC when I say I went to LMU, they say “oh okay”.

Actually when I was back on campus after the JVC to do my masters in Pastoral Studies I ended up doing my masters project on CLC which was fun. And now I work in Campus Ministry at Regis, the Jesuit University in Denver and I coordinate our CLC program. We call it CURA- - but it is CLC. It's kind of fun. I always think back to those days and it has really shaped the climate of CLC that I want to create at Regis. I had such a profound experience personally as a student and I want to offer that to our students here at Regis.

MS. BEGG: That's really cool that your CLC experience at LMU carried over into your professional life now.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Oh yes, and part of it is just about the - discernment piece; learning to listen to the urgings of your heart and not just listen to what society tells you or what even your parents sometimes tell you of really being attentive to where you're being called.

That was a gift that came for me through CLC and it was more so than what you learn about the Jesuits or the Society of Jesus in the classroom. There was a very practical learning that happened just from being together and exploring different topics of spirituality. I really couldn't tell you what we did in most of our meetings in CLC—but their overall impact is very clear to me.

People say that when it comes to education that you won't



necessarily remember what you learned but you remember how you felt. I remember being very at peace and very calm and being very challenged by the message that came through from CLC and I'm really, really grateful for that.

It's funny, a lot of the people from our group went on to do extended volunteer programs or service, ministry or things along those lines. One group member was a Jesuit for a number of years; one woman did Maryknoll for more than ten years in Thailand after having worked for JVC for awhile.

Again, that's not exactly the goal of CLC but certainly that is what CLC is all about and to me it just says that when you really go through the period in your life that it really does change the outcome and the decisions that you make. - - .

MS. BEGG: Awesome. I believe that there are three pillars of CLC; community, spirituality, and mission. Is that right?


MS. BEGG: I was wondering if you could tell me about those in detail and explain how they relate to the three principles that LMU's based on which are social justice, academic excellence and education of the whole person. Did you see a lot of crossing over between those principles? Were they interconnected for you or was there some disconnect between that. I was wondering if you could tell me about your experience with that.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: For sure. I see all those things as really interconnected. I talked a bit about this idea that we're not called to engage in this journey on our own and for me that's part of what community was all about.



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It was very liberating to come to a group every week and just be myself, to not have to put up fronts or pretend I was something that I wasn't. I could just be myself with all my faults and warts and simpleness and just be who I was. There was a community of people that would love me just how I was which was a really a reminder that god loves me just the way I am.

That experience of community was really profound and in terms of spirituality I think like I said we explored a lot in



those years that was very mutual and it really changed how I experience religion, I would say, and it just opened a lot of doors to me to say “okay I have a relationship with a God who loves me no matter how I am or no matter what I do.” Again, this whole piece of Ignatian spirituality and just exploring some of the aspects of it for me was really important.

Then mission. I already talked a lot about how people in my group really took that to heart. We looked closely at the gospel stories and asked: what does it mean to be a disciple of Christ This helped us start to ask questions about what am I going to do with my life? The Ignatian spirituality has that aspect of: What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What will I do for Christ? That's part of what the mission component of the CLC is all about.

Asking those questions of what am I willing to do to surrender part of my life to Christ or surrender all of my life to Christ? All of those components or tenants are a really important to me and are a really important part of CLC. I think the fact that all of them are Jesuit-inspired-- the academic excellence, social justice, care for the whole person-- those flow from one another, they're, I would say, more general ways of saying what CLC is all about.

We are called to be contemplatives in action, that whatever we're doing in the world that we're reflecting on it, we're seeing how it fits in the bigger picture. We're constantly asking ourselves how can I be better. How can I engage the – common good, how can I make God more alive today both in the world and in my life.

I don't think there's a disconnect between those things at all. I think it's sort of the reason that CLC was brought to LMU. It has taught us how to live out those bigger principles of what LMU is all about.

I'm not sure that answers your question.

MS. BEGG: Yes absolutely. We just want to know how much certain aspects of LMU affected your personal experience and it's different for every person. We're just trying to get a sense.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Okay.

MS. BEGG: You were an English Literature major. Why did you decide to major in English Literature?



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It's actually kind of funny. It was early in my sophomore year and I still didn’t have a major. I don't remember who my advisor was but I remember sitting in St. Roberts talking to an advisor and he kept asking me questions about what classes do you really like. They asked what are you thinking about majoring in and I said I don't know, the only thing I know is I don't want to be an English major because I don't read that much, I don't want to write that much.

He started asking me more questions about what classes did I like, well in high school my favorite classes were my English classes. He asked some more follow up questions and by the time I left I'm like “I guess I'm going to be an English major.: Sometimes that's just how God works. It was never a plan I had,



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: although I was very inspired by many English teachers I had over the years. When I made the decision to major in English I thought that I would be a high school English teacher. Which interestingly enough, I did become a high school teacher but not in English, in theology which I taught - - for a number of years.

I had a great experience as an English major. I really appreciated and liked the program. after a couple of years of - - I decided what I really wanted to do was to high school ministry either teaching theology or doing campus ministry and I like to broaden to the university ministry as well but I did have - - . Although if you had asked the English professors that had me when I was LMU, probably there are very few that would remember me because I was so quiet in the classroom. Not outside the classroom, but I was pretty quiet in the classroom which I regret a little bit. I wish I had just engaged in the things I was reading more and read more of what I was supposed to read.

It's one of those things that you can't go back and change but you wish you could.

MS. BEGG: What was your experience with the English Department? Was it positive or negative? Did you enjoy your classes? Was the English program really strong at the time? What was your experience as an English major?



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It was good. Like I said, I wasn't the most engaged English major. I wish I could do that differently but I had some great professors. I remember Dr. Bertolotti— he taught me for two semesters that I really had a hard time with. He was very, very good and very engaging.

I took a class, I don't know if he's still there, but he taught a class that was all about the concept of time and we read all these letters to really - - concept of time in that class. I was confused a lot but it kind of blew my mind.

I took of couple of journalism and writing classes that were really good. The program was very good. I just wish that I had engaged in it more when I was there. I think I was so focused on my extracurriculars and on the work and things like that that I didn't get out of it everything that I wish I did. Just in terms of mentorship.

One thing I will tell you is that writing was something that was really emphasized and I am so grateful for that. I tell students all the time now that writing is so important and if you don't utilize the resources you have now to improve your writing skills, it's a big mistake. I don't care what career you're shooting for, writing is very, very essential and if you can't do that well it's going to be hard to get jobs I think.

I have a million stories about my co-curricular experience at LMU although my experience in graduate school was different. I was much more engaged, I was a few years older. That was really great but my undergrad degree I wish I had done more to get more out of it. I did have a positive experience I just didn't put it to a very good use.

MS. BEGG: Why don't you tell me about your experience as a grad student?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I came back to LMU after being away for two years. I was hired in campus ministry. I ran the - - program and lot of different other kind of outreach in-service opportunities. I worked in residents halls in the chapel and I was a - - for two years and then I was - - which has now passed away, I was the first RC enrolled - - .

MS. BEGG: I lived in Raines my sophomore year.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: What?

MS. BEGG: I lived in Raines my sophomore year.



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Oh did you? Okay, very good, very good.

I started the program and I remember sitting in the first class which was with Jeff Siker and I was so overwhelmed because I felt like I didn't understand anything he was saying. The vocabulary and the concepts were foreign at first—



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: --but I learned quickly, and the program was wonderful. Michael Horan was directing the graduate program at the time. I just remember him being inviting and helpful in terms of helping students identify their focus areas and working towards not only finishing the degree but making the degree something that was particularly useful for each of us.

Michael Horan was wonderful. There were so many professors I had that were amazing. I avoided Tom Rausch, S.J. like the plague because he was a friend and I was too intimidated to take any of his classes. I avoided him.

One of my favorite stories from those years was from Dr. Horan, who's still there. He told us that when he first started his colleagues made him a nameplate that said Dr. Horan-Horan, since he was one of only a few in the department without a hyphenated name. It was sort of funny.

Many faculty I had are still there. Lizette Larson-Miller was amazing. I have drawn on things that I learned in her class so often because my first year working at Regis I was hired as the Director of Liturgy- - and I don't have a degree in liturgy but I took some liturgy classes when I was a student in the graduate program. I'm so grateful for her ability to really pack a lot into a semester.

Jim Fredericks and Wilkie Au both stand out as well. I had a profound experience in the program. I grew so much. When I started I was one of the younger students in the program but I never felt like people treated me as though I was too young to contribute. I just had a very positive experience. It took me three years to finish the program. Like I said I did my project on Christian Life Community and at that time LMU was looking to transition to having students facilitate CLC groups because in those years, they were all run by either



people in campus ministry, or Jesuits or basically the adults on campus. In the late '90s it was getting to the point where there was too much interest on the part of students to have adults running all those groups and they started training students. I don't know that it was ever implemented, but I created a program generating ideas about how to train students to be leaders for CLC.

MS. BEGG: Cool.


MS. BEGG: Jumping back to your undergrad years, I was wondering if you could tell me about your experience on campus. I think you lived in Loyola Apartments all four years because of the student worker program.


MS. BEGG: What was it like to live in the dorms at that point in LMU's history?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I loved it. I mean - - it was pretty - - the first time I came back to campus after the apartments had been torn down. I was a little bit devastated because to live all four years in the same building. It becomes your home and you weren't just there during the academic year, we were there all summer.

We used to joke in the Fall “oh the nine month visitors are back” we acted as though it were our campus. It was awesome. All the summer conferences were there all summer but we were 24 of us, a pretty small group of students that were living on campus throughout the summer so I had a wonderful experience. Father Rich Robin, S.J. was the Chaplain in Loyola Apts. and he was always so good to us. We could always go up and visit him in his—



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: --3rd floor apartment whenever we wanted. Then Fernando Moreno was the other Chaplain in Loyola Apartments during those years. He was the Director of Campus Ministry at that time and he lived in Loyola Apartments forever.

I loved living on campus. It was hard for me a little bit



not having your typical freshman college experience. I think about it sometimes now – I wonder what it would have been like to eat in the dining hall, to walk down the hall to take a shower and the things that - - part of me feels like I missed out on something but what I experienced was SO rich and full.

I loved having that experience of being a student worker and living in those apartments. I moved in in June of 1989 and I moved out after I graduated. We lived in Hannon one summer because they were redoing the apartments. It was quite an experience to live in the same apartment for all four years of college.

MS. BEGG: Could you tell me where Loyola Apartments were in relation to campus now?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I can't remember the name of the building but it's over – is the Bird Nest still the there?

MS. BEGG: Yes the Bird Nest is still there.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Kind of behind Desmond, Whelan and Rosecrans.

MS. BEGG: Oh where the Del Reys are. That's funny because I lived my freshman year in the dorms that are there now.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Oh okay. What's it called?

MS. BEGG: There are two dorms called Del Rey North and Del Rey South.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: There we go, toward Del Rey. I'm guessing it would be Del Rey South would be about where Loyola Apartment was. There were some nice views up there. The building had two sides to it, two quads we called it. The student workers lived on the first floor. We always called those apartments temporary housing. We would always complain about oh this is falling apart, or that's falling apart but - - the complaining was just what we did.

One of my favorite stories, I don't know if this would ever get published, but back then the student workers were pretty good partiers, (not me of course, but the guys). Well, the student workers always did all the setup for the chairs for commencement and things like that. One year, after we had done all the set-up and take down of all the chairs in Sunken Garden for commencement—we had a party for the “rookies” (the



newest Student Workers, who were just finishing their first year in the program). Since we were supposed to move out of Loyola Apartments the following day for renovations, we decided to have the party inside one of the apartments. The guys took the old red carpets we used to lay down in the Alumni Gym for special events and cut out a corner of it to lay down in the apartments to “protect” the carpet. Well, the party involved the spraying of lots of cheap champagne and the throwing of most of the contents of the refrigerator.



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It was crazy. I mean there was champagne on the walls and on the carpet and everywhere and mustard and ketchup and it was gross. After all the throwing of food and champagne we all went and jumped into the Bird Nest pool. You can imagine what the apartment smelled like after that. I can't even describe what it smelled like. Then the next day we got word that they cancelled the renovation. Those poor guys had to live in that apartment with the smells for the entire next year.

MS. BEGG: Could you tell me any other aspects about what it was like to live on campus. Do you remember what the food was like? Do you remember what kinds of activities you could usually find to do on campus? Where did people like to hang out on campus? What was the general atmosphere of living on campus?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Oh my gosh, this is going back a ways. I remember - - living on campus we used to eat at the grill on the Lair Patio a lot. We had the munch money cards but I didn't have a meal plan ever. It was before they had the One Card system. I never really ate there and we still called it saga even when I was there. Marriott had taken over the catering services but everyone called it ‘saga’.

The only cafeteria then was in the Student Center, right next to Campus Ministry.

Activities; I remember that mass was a big deal. It was always fun to go to the 8:00 mass on Sunday night and I almost always worked that mass. I had worked as a sacristan at that mass; that was really fun. I remember there used to



be a mass in the dorm on the weeknights once in awhile. That was kind of cool. I remember that the RAs being really kind of outgoing and friendly and putting on programs. There was always more of an issue of time. Because I was working so much and I was never in the traditional freshman or sophomore residence halls, so I never went to a lot of residence hall programs or things like that.

But I remember being busy all the time. I just don't remember what I was doing all that time. I do remember that I loved e living on campus. The whole place just looked so different then-- before the big building explosion when they built all those new residentce halls. There was a HUGE piece of open space called “the bluff” which is of course now filled with new buildings.

I remember there was always something fun to do. I remember going to the library a lot to study, like staying there until midnight.

I always remember staying up late writing papers. - - one and maybe you'll chuckle at this, but I remember almost all of my papers, even in college, I did on this word processor thing that my roommate had. There were computer labs which a lot of people used but I never did. I always was doing them at like 3 in the morning (when the labs were closed) on my roommate's word processor which I don't even know how to describe it. It had a screen, it weighed about 75 pounds.

I don't have a lot of specific memories about things that were going on. I just remember there was always something fun happening or someplace to socialize with people. There used to be a place we used to call it the rec center and I want to say it was roughly where the coffee shop is like on the ground floor of the student center that overlooks the Sunken Gardens. There was a room in there we used to have parties.

MS. BEGG: Oh, is that the living room? Oh wait not the living room, maybe.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I think that's what it's called now. There used to be pool tables in there but it was before they—





MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: --created the whole student center and put all kinds of cool stuff in there. When I was there it was fun but it wasn't what it is now. It's so cool now.

I'm sorry I don't have a lot of memories.

MS. BEGG: No, no, no don't worry. Everybody's experience is different. We're just trying to get a lot of individual experiences and stories.

I was wondering if you could tell me about the student population. How would you describe it? Were most students from the L.A. area? What was the gender ratio, the - - ratio, the socioeconomic backgrounds? How would you describe the student population when you were there?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Great question. I remember LMU being very diverse in a lot of ways. In the Student Workers we had a lot of students who came from low income families or low and middle class families and that was a good experience of socioeconomic diversity. We definitely had a variety of backgrounds. I remember loving that about LMU and it was less diverse then than it is now for sure. I still experienced it as a place where there was all different colors of skin and first languages. I remember many students from Arizona and Hawaii. There was always a big luau every year- - with the student organization that the Hawaiian students kind of formed. That was really fun.

MS. BEGG: It's still there.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Yeah that was cool. I remember there being some issues. It was my junior year when the Rodney King verdict came out and there were uprisings in L.A. and that stands out to me as a time when everyone started to really have to take seriously the idea of inclusivity and incorporating a variety of perspectives.

I know that it wasn't the first time or that LMU was ever trying to avoid the diversity issue. What was happening in the City of L.A. was a really big deal and it caused a lot of conversations, I would say, to start happening and dialogue to start happening in a new way about what does it mean to be a Catholic Jesuit school and to engage in our community and to treat everyone here with respect.

I think that the African American students had concerns. I remember being in St. Roberts auditorium and Lisa Pumetti was



there and we had a whole conversation about how can we respect and protect each other in this setting because final exams, a bunch of them, got cancelled because of the uprising.

In fact another kind of funny story is that a bunch of us were really upset just knowing what was going on in L.A. and feeling concerned and confused and anxious about what was going on and all the violence that was happening. There was a group of us and because we were pretty well connected and had keys to things, somebody had the key to the clock tower. We were all kind of distraught and emotional and we wanted to be together and be present to what's going on so we went up to the top of the clock tower and I guess we were a little loud because the public safety came and found us upstairs. Dave Trump, who was the VP for Facilities, and Ray Hilyer the head of Public Safety, were there.



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: --All these bigwigs were standing at the bottom of the stairs so angry.

They thought there were snipers on top of the chapel and it was just this group of student leaders crying and really upset about what was happening in our city.

The funniest part was that as we came down the stairs with our tails between our legs. Dave Trump and Ray Hillyer, they knew all of us and they were calling us by name like disappointed parents saying ‘how could you do this to us?’. It was the President of Gryphon Circle, the President of Crimson, and the General of the Student Workers, who was my roommate, and just all these people. It was pretty funny. They're like Kristi - - how could you. Oh gosh we felt so bad. Of course it wasn't malicious; we were just trying to console each other. That was bad. There was never any major consequence to that. Maybe there should have been but that was pretty memorable. I'm sure Dave Trump or Ray Hillyer would remember that.

MS. BEGG: In general how did you experience the early 1990s as an LMU student? Was L.A. life really integral at LMU? Was it kind of separated? Were you very aware and involved with what was going on outside LMU or were you very introspective and focused on what was happening on campus? What was your



experience in relation to the quote unquote outside world?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I think as an undergrad, I think back in those days, LMU was more kind of closed off. It was kind of, to use the image, up on a hill separated from the rest of the city. Not that there wasn't any engagement in the city but I certainly think it's dramatically increased since then.

I personally wasn't all that engaged over what was going on around us, at least in retrospect. The Rodney King verdict and the uprising that followed were certainly an exception to that. All of us were really paying attention to what was going on and concerned about things. I think in general there was a general sense of how the gang situation in L.A. at that time was pretty serious and very heavy. It's not that we necessarily wouldn't talk about it but I feel like in general the environment on campus, although not the students going to do service and things like that. I feel it's much more integrated now in terms of the city. I could think of so many examples of how the university has really engaged in the community so profoundly in the last 15 or 20 years.

The services organizations are doing a lot more service off campus as opposed to on campus. Even the alternative spring break programs have really taken off. The Center for Service and Action-- Pam Rector’s program has really just taken off. The university is much more engaged in the larger community than it ever was when I was there which is a good thing. It isn't that we didn't have any interest it was just, I think it just a question of infrastructure.

We were doing a bazillion hours of service but in terms of really engaging and being a part of the community I think has changed a lot since then.

MS. BEGG: In the 1990s obviously technology was a lot different than now. Do you have any specific recollections about technology on campus or using technology as a student? You mentioned that your roommate had a gigantic word processor and that was how you did your papers. What other things do you remember about that?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: What was the last thing you said?

MS. BEGG: What other things do you remember about technological advances?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I remember that there were definitely



computer labs where students used to write papers and stuff like that. Definitely the whole laptop idea, I mean they—



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: --- - there were not, I mean I don't think anyone had them at that time. They were probably extremely expensive so if you wanted to type up a paper you would go to the computer lab. I think in general at that time most students would write things out longhand on paper, I'm not sure everyone, but I know I did. I would write it out by hand and then type it up just like when I was in high school I did all of my papers on a typewriter.

It wasn't that computer labs didn't exist or weren't available it's just, I think for me, it was easier for me to drag out my roommate's 75 pound word processor and type it on there. The screen was probably 8 inches long and 4 inches wide so you could see what you were typing and you could put it all in before you printed it but it was certainly less convenient than using a PC for your papers.

Those word processors were extremely loud, it housed the printer in it, and so once you finished it then you could print it out but it was certainly less convenient to save it. We used the big honking floppy disk, not even the square hard ones. Those came about while I was in college but initially we used those crazy looking floppy disk things.

Email might have even been accessible to students when I graduated but I never used it. It wasn't until a couple of years later that I had my first email account. Email was not widely used at all my whole time as an undergrad but by the time I came back two years later every faculty and staff member had an email address, students were given email addresses and things like that. When I was an undergrad people didn't use email. We just didn't communicate that way.

Then the internet of course, wasn't a part of anything so it was not available as an option for research or anything like that. If you needed to get a book you had to walk your butt over to the library and look it up on the card catalog even.

There were computers in the library but I can't even remember how it worked. I think you could look some stuff up but the



card catalog was definitely still there when I was an undergrad I remember thinking gosh because they're still talking about building the new library. Oh, forever when I was there in the Von der Ahe Library there was this model of what the new library was going to look like and actually - - the same as what they actually did if I'm not mistaken.

They had been talking about building the new library from the time I started as a freshman and that model - - walked by every time and I always remember - - the - - campus how they were going to develop because none of that was there but - - the school business wasn't in there when I was an undergrad. The bluff was like this endless chunk of land that we would just look at - - oh can you imagine someday there's going to be buildings out there. None of it was there, it was just this big hunk of land that everyone said oh yeah someday - - going to build on it and we'd all say yeah right, whatever. Someday we'll see it or maybe our kids will see it. Once they started it happened really fast.

MS. BEGG: Wow.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: So back to technology. Its funny it just was a whole different ballgame. People didn't have cell phones. People didn't email. That was different. Somehow we survived but it was a lot different then.

MS. BEGG: Going back to your mention of the bluff being this huge empty chunk of land and they kept saying that they would build and they would build and then finally eventually they did. I was just wondering if you could tell me how you experienced the changes at LMU over the years since you went as both and undergraduate and a graduate. You actually were able to come back to LMU and see the new changes and obviously you're still in touch with the community because you've mentioned a lot of things that are pretty recent here. I was wondering if you could tell me about—



MS. BEGG: --how you view or experienced the changes you've seen at LMU, not just physically but also in different either academic programs or the campus ministry. Just in general what changes have you seen?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I'm so sorry. My boss just came and told



me that it's time for me to go downstairs. Oh gosh, I'm so sorry to do this to you. I thought that this event didn't start for another hour. Somehow I got the time wrong. I'm so sorry to do this to you.

MS. BEGG: Oh.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Can you just hang on a second. Let me look it up because one of us might be mistaken. Would you mind hanging on for a second?

MS. BEGG: Yeah sure.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Okay we're good. He had the time wrong. Sorry about that. You're going to have to repeat that last question because I was distracted.

MS. BEGG: Okay. No problem.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: It was about the bluff and the changes.

MS. BEGG: Not only the physical changes but also just changes in the student population, changes in the faculty, changes in different programs or departments. What have you noticed during your undergraduate, your graduate, to now? What has changed do you think?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Certainly the campus itself visually has changed so much. I think there's a risk that's involved in that in terms of how students experience LMU. LMU was always a very intimate campus even though it wasn't small it was intimate. You always could count on seeing a huge number of people that you know walking from where you lived to the classroom or things like that.

I think that physically it's changed a lot but I don't feel like the heart of it hasn’t changed. At least I don't get that sense. I'd have to say because LMU was such a home for me I always worried that it would be so much different when the campus was made to be so much bigger. I think that what it's done is its given more resources for students. More students live on campus now which is a good thing for the building of community.

I just feel like we were such a small unknown school then, not unknown but when I was a freshman was when Hank Gathers died and LMU advance to the Elite 8 in the NCAA tournament-- and that really put LMU on the map in a lot of ways and I feel like LMU has done a really wonderful job at becoming the



premier west coast institution that has a wonderful reputation. With the changes I feel like its more diverse now in the student population in every sense of that word. In terms of cultural diversity and socioeconomic diversity it's really changed a lot. It's grown and LMU was always proud of that part of its heritage but even more so now I think it's just amazing. It really reflects the diversity of the state in which it resides which I think is really important.

I don't know what else to say. I mean it certainly has changed a lot in terms of the physical appearance but I don't think the heart of the place has changed. Despite a lot of growth there's quite a few more students, there's a lot more programs, there's certainly a bazillion more buildings but the heart of the place seems to have remained intact.

MS. BEGG: Finally how would you say that LMU has changed you as a person?

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: Oh gosh.

MS. BEGG: And if it didn't, that's okay.

MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I am a more thoughtful, reflective, engaged person of faith as a result of my years at LMU.



MS. GONSALVES-MCCABE: I feel like I have grown in my desire to know God and to know God's people more fully. The idea of being a lifelong learner was instilled in me. I learned that it's not just about me and that to be a person of faith means to engage in the world in meaningful. I feel like LMU helped me start on the path to become who I was called to be. I don't know if that would have happened in the same way had I been somewhere else.

MS. BEGG: Okay.


Documents

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY100.lmu.edu/Assets/Centennial/Website/Oral+History/Kristi+Gon...LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY ... Your name is Kristi Gonsalves-McCabe? ... full of student