Born To Be Blue
More and more legacies are choosing ODU

By Steve Daniel

There are many indicators of a university’s maturity: expanded degree programs; growth in both facilities and enrollment; and an ever-increasing academic reputation.

And while Old Dominion has experienced all of the above and more since its founding three-quarters of a century ago as a small two-year division of William and Mary, another sure sign of its “coming of age” is the growing number of legacies – the children, and in some cases, grandchildren, of alumni who have followed in their families’ academic footsteps.

In November, the Office of Alumni Relations hosted a “Born to Be Blue” reception for ODU legacy families, and plans are being considered for an event next fall to recognize incoming freshmen whose parents or siblings graduated from the university.

“It was an exciting event for the alumni office, as well as the university. With the legacy program, our hope is to engage alumni from across generations. The legacy reception identified graduates and current students with a keen interest in ODU and our alumni family,” said Elizabeth Taraski, associate vice president for development and alumni relations.

For a growing number of families, Old Dominion has become, well, a family tradition. According to university records, 96 undergraduate students who enrolled for the fall 2006 semester were either children or grandchildren (or both) of ODU alumni.

Among those attending the “Born to Be Blue” reception was the Malcolm family. Their ODU tradition is now in its third generation in the form of freshman engineering major Gregory Malcolm, who spoke at the event.

A Governor’s Technology Scholarship winner, he talked about the importance of choosing a school that offers both comfort and a challenging education. Malcolm, who had been accepted by Virginia Tech and was also considering the University of Virginia, said he decided on ODU because he felt comfortable here.

The Malcolm family tradition began with Gregory’s maternal grandmother, Janet Facenda ’68 of Portsmouth, who enrolled at Old Dominion College to complete the final two years of a degree she started at another school.

For the first of these years, Facenda, whose name was Janet Buchanan White during her student days, took evening classes four nights a week so she could stay home with her young daughter during the day. She was able to complete her bachelor’s degree in psychology taking day classes the following year when her daughter was old enough to attend preschool.

Facenda said what really struck her during that first year was the mix of students – including military officers, teachers and traditional-age students – which made classes interesting. “I liked the diverse pool of ages, knowledge and backgrounds,” she said, “although there weren’t many young housewives like me.”

Facenda also benefited from her senior year of daytime classes. “I made some friends, and it broadened me. It was a real period of growth.”

She went on to do substitute teaching and worked to place underprivileged students in jobs in the Washington, D.C., area, where she joined the insurance company USAA as a claims representative. She later became a corporate trainer and moved to Hampton Roads to help start USAA’s Norfolk regional office. She retired as a manager in 2003 after nearly 17 years with the company.

Facenda’s daughter, Julianne, also earned her degree in 1996 by attending ODU her junior and senior years. She started college overseas, earned an associate degree after moving to Chicago, and then resumed her education in health sciences several years later at Old Dominion after she, her husband, Hank, and infant son, Gregory, moved to Hampton Roads.

Hank had completed his college education at ODU earlier, receiving a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1992. He returned later for a master’s in engineering management.
In addition to multigenerational ODU families, there are many instances where siblings have made the university a family tradition.

Six of the seven children of Christos and Sylvia Roussos earned ODU degrees. Constantine, the eldest, was the first to attend, graduating in 1969 with a degree in mathematics.

“Once one of us started, the rest were pretty well destined to follow,” observed younger brother Robert ’79, a current member of the Alumni Association board.

Likewise, six siblings (out of eight) of the Brunick clan from Norfolk received ODU degrees, starting with Jerry in 1970 and ending with Dan in 1987.

For both the Roussos and Brunick siblings, ODU was a natural choice, offering affordability, proximity to home and a good education.

For some of the younger siblings, there was the bonus of having older brothers and sisters offering advice about favorite classes and professors.

The Brunicks have retained close ties to their alma mater over the years – Kevin ’76 has served on the Alumni Association board and Jerry has been a trustee of the Intercollegiate Foundation.