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Name:
Eric Boos
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Residence:
Morogoro, Tanzania
Graduation Year:
1986
Major:
Philosophy
Minor:
Communication
Why did you choose SJC?
My ties with Saint Joseph's College go back to when
I was an altar boy at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Winamac, Indiana. Our
reward for serving at Mass was a trip to a Puma football game each year.
I was enamored with the Precious Blood spirituality and the Precious Blood
priests who served my parish when I was a kid, and those trips to Rensselaer
made a lasting impression. I was intent upon becoming a Precious Blood priest,
and after attending St. Lawrence Seminary High School, I joined the Precious
Blood formation program which, at that time, sent all its candidates to
Saint Joseph's College. I also received a band scholarship from Rev. Larry
Heiman, a couple of academic scholarships, and a chance to run track. As a student, what were you involved in?
I was a three-year letter winner in varsity track,
on the Student Senate, a D.J. for WPUM, the campus radio station, and President
of the College Band. I was also a Big Brother and CCD (Confraternity of
Christine Doctrine) teacher for the Catholic parishes in Medaryville and
Francesville. I managed SJC's Lake Banet, was Lead Water Safety Instructor
for Jasper and Pulaski Counties, and a volunteer CYO (Christian Youth Organization)
basketball coach at St. Augustine's Parish in Rensselaer. I was also a seminarian
with the Precious Blood. What are you doing now?
I'm researching land tenure laws and their relationship
to agricultural practice and production in developing countries at Sokoine
University in Morogoro, Tanzania, and teaching Philosophy at the Salvatorian
Institute, also in Tanzania. My wife Karene serves as the Chair of the English
and Communications Department at the Institute and runs a pre-school program
for children of the Kola Hill area. Next year, after the Scholarship ends,
I'll reapply so that I can start a Land Tenure Center and Conflict Resolution
Clinic as a joint venture between Sokoine University, the Salvatorian Institute,
the University of Wisconsin Law School and Land Tenure Center, and the University
of Dar es Salaam. This step is a foundation for the full development of
the Mwokozi Law Program, which will procure legal training for Tanzanians.
My family and I eventually intend to move to Tanzania permanently. How did SJC prepare you for the "real world"?
Where I am in my life right now is the culmination
of my Core experience. Core forces students to ask questions, challenge
ideas from their peers, and see that they are connected to what happens
around the world. It structures them to take responsibility for the ideas
they hold as well as become well practiced in the art of dialogue. At a
large university, in classrooms with almost three hundred people, most education
is content centered and concentrates on learning how to perform a set of
perfunctory skills, and the students' souls are ignored. Saint Joseph's
College produces unique graduates, graduates that have strong critical thinking
skills and are adaptable to the world around them. Most importantly, I learned
from my teachers and mentors, Don Kreilkamp, Don Brinley, Rev. James Froelich,
Ralph Cappuccilli, Dave Osterfeld, John Nichols, and several others, that:
excellence is an "all-or-nothing" proposition; justice is its own reward;
truth is paramount; and love of God and Neighbor encompasses all forms of
virtue and will manifest only when our actions accord to all people the
dignity and respect due to them as members of God's Holy Family.
