Alumni News and Updates

Roberta F. Vondrak is blessed to be married 43 years (June 2019) and to have six grandchildren. She continues to work in private practice as an LCPC and CADC with offices in Bolingbrook and Clarendon Hills.

In March 2020, Homewood-Flossmoor High School announced Matthew Lyke as its new athletic director. Prior to this new position, Lyke spent 13 years working in Lincoln-Way District 210 as a physical education teacher, and as a baseball and football coach at TF South High in Lansing where he was the school's athletic director for two years and coached college baseball for four years.

In May 2019, Michelle Meyer Palmer moved from the western suburbs of Chicago to the mountains of northern Georgia and is just loving the weather and scenery. In October, she celebrated her 10th work anniversary at IBM.

Employed at Jackson Park Hospital in Chicago, Chanele Jackson circulates in various units including detox, medsurge and the medical/psych unit. Jackson plans to return to school to pursue a nurse practitioner degree.

Karen Leise Bidus and her husband welcomed a baby girl, Scarlet Elizabeth Louise, in November 2018. Scarlet joins big brother William (19 months).

Janet Janicke is the new director of special education at Flossmoor School District 161 and will begin with the start of the 2020-2021 school year. She recently served as principal of the Northeast Elementary School in Evergreen Park District 124 and prior to that as the director of special education at Villa Park School District 45 as the district's special education facilitator.

Jose Calderon, previously employed by the City of Evanston, relocated to California to accept a position as IT manager with Raytheon.

In August 2018, Fuad Abuzerr accepted a position at Northern Trust Bank as an analyst in institutional fund accounting.

At SXU, he played for the men's soccer team and was a member of the Financial Management Association.

Lorna Clarke continued her education by earning a master's degree in clinical mental health counseling with a degree conferral on May 20, 2018 from Walden University Online. She passed the national counselor examination (NCE) through the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) on the first try, becoming nationally certified as a counselor on December 20, 2018. On March 1, 2019, Clarke became recognized by the state of Illinois as a licensed professional counselor.

"Starting my academic journey was rigorous; however, I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I've learned about me and the faithfulness of God when things looked dark and how His light shone to keep me on the path so that I am equipped to help those He will send my way. The valuable information I received regarding accreditation in the field saved me from pitfalls I did not see. I appreciate the time I spent at SXU and the wisdom I received from all of my professors there. I thank you for the opportunity to share my journey," said Clarke.

In June 2017, Josette Dezir began working as an OR/trauma nurse at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital. Serving the community of Cook County, Dezir circulates in surgeries for victims of gunshots, violence, burn and/or motor vehicle accidents on almost a nightly basis. She credits the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at SXU for training her to be diligent in caring for all, regardless of their economic backgrounds. She does it well and she loves it!

Shawn P. Bradley was recently hired as the director of finance at Crown Asset Management, LLC., a leading accounts receivable management company headquartered in Duluth. Bradley has extensive experience in distressed debt lending and capital markets. Previously, he was senior director of business development for Ovation Partners, a private credit fund, and spent nine years as a managing director in the Specialty Finance Group at CIBC Bank USA, where he helped grow the loan portfolio to over $1 billion dollars.

Laith Jabra accepted a position as a credit analyst at the Commercial Banking Division of Royal Bank. Since then, he has been promoted to commercial banking officer.

At SXU, he was involved in the CME Trading Challenge and GSM Student Advisory Board.

Al Palar was recently appointed as the head coach of the women's soccer program at Saint Francis University in Joliet. Most recently, Palar served for the last five years as the head coach of women's soccer at Moraine Valley Community College (MVCC) in Palos Hills after serving as an assistant coach for the MVCC men's soccer team for three years prior.

In addition to his part-time coaching duties, Palar has been a full-time language arts teacher at Indian Springs School District 109's Wilkins Junior High School in Justice since 2015.

Born in India, Dr. Mehta came to the United States in 2004. He earned his master's degree in public health from SXU and then completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Saint Joseph Hospital in Chicago. In 2010, Dr. Mehta began working as a hospitalist at UnityPoint Health Methodist Medical Center, in Peoria. He credits his pursuit of a career in medicine to his grandfather, who worked as an assistant to a physician, and his older sister, who is a surgeon. Dr. Mehta is currently on the front lines of the pandemic treating COVID-19 patients.

Missy Baglarz, a long-time employee of the Bensenville School District, has been named the district's new Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Director. She will lead the district-wide integration of the MTTS framework, working with administrators, MTTS teams, and individual teachers to help students with academic, behavioral and/or social-emotional challenges.

In additional to her master's in education administration from SXU, Baglarz holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a master's in social work and a master's in education from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Karina Laszcz Langle earned a Doctor of Optometry (OD) from the Illinois College of Optometry, where she graduated cum laude in 2007. In January 2017, she opened Lunettes Family Eyecare in Mount Greenwood, which provides comprehensive optometric care, the latest technology in optical vision correction and education for patients on the importance of vision care. In addition to the services she provides at Lunettes, she is also a clinical instructor at the Illinois College of Optometry.

Lisa Senerchia is an oncology nurse at the University of Chicago Cancer Center at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox. She works with a multidisciplinary team comprised of many health care professionals to consult on patients with cancer. Senerchia educates patients about treatment, possible side effects and self-care tips to follow. She was introduced to oncology when she participated in an extern program at Advocate Christ Medical Center. After graduation, she stayed on at the hospital and felt fortunate to have worked with seasoned expert nurses who were great mentors.

Ebony White-Manigault is a fourth-year Wayne State University School of Medicine student. Her interest is in understanding the transition skills necessary for non-traditional and minority students from matriculation through graduation. She has served as an elected delegate at Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) conferences and as a student advisor on curriculum development and training gap identification initiatives. She completed her undergraduate work at Saint Xavier University before earning a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan.

White-Manigault is a board member on the The National Resident Matching Program® (NRMP®), a private, non-profit organization established in 1952 at the request of medical students to provide an orderly and fair mechanism for matching the preferences of applicants for U.S. residency positions with the preferences of residency program directors. In addition to the annual Main Residency Match® for almost 44,000 registrants, the NRMP conducts Fellowship Matches for more than 60 subspecialties through its Specialties Matching Service.®

In August of 2020, Suzi Reyes said goodbye to her job as the program director of the NSF-HSI grant at SXU in order to continue her education and work on an MAT in Secondary Education at SXU while teaching high school biology. She is now a first year biology teacher at Englewood STEM High School. 

Jennifer England Pemble graduated from SXU with her bachelor's degree in 2009 and continued on to the MBA program which she completed in 2012. In 2013 she accepted a tax associate position with a public accounting firm in Tampa, Florida. Since then she has received multiple promotions and has transferred to Birmingham, Alabama where the firm is headquartered. Today she is a senior manager and the Service Area Leader of Warren Averett's healthcare consulting division. While she is not on the front lines fighting COVID-19, she enjoys being able to work with and serve those who are, our healthcare professionals.