Hiltop Views on Memorial Service

Published in the Hilltop Views 06 Apr 2011

Memorial service remembers former professor, student
By Anna Whitney

Friends, colleagues and former students gathered April 2 at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel at St. Edward's University to remember former St. Edward's student and professor Michele Kay.
Kay, a journalist who first came to St. Edward's as a New College student, died at her home the morning of Feb. 16. She was 66.
Fr. Lou Brusatti, dean of the School of Humanities, delivered the opening prayer and was the first to eulogize Kay.
"We remember a five-foot tall fireball who hitchhiked across India as a teenager," Brusatti said. "She was a woman who continually reinvented herself."
From being a journalist, to a student, to eventually becoming a professor at St. Edward's, Kay did constantly reinvent herself.
Kay spent 40 years as a writer, journalist and public relations official before coming to St. Edward's to earn her bachelor's and master's degrees. Kay was a journalism professor and faculty advisor to Hilltop Views from 2005 to 2008. She also helped create the journalism minor at St. Edward's.
Friend and colleague Professor Catherine Rainwater described how Kay and her family were expelled from Egypt when Kay was 12. She also talked about her friendship with Kay that began in 2008.
Rainwater remembered Kay for her love of travel and her compassion, humor and wit.
"A reporter, she never missed a beat," Rainwater said.
Former St. Edward's student and former editor-in-chief of Hilltop Views Phil Jones described Kay as helpful inside and outside of the classroom. He described Kay as "a sheer force of nature" who cared intensely for students.
"You didn't have to talk to her very long to know kindness and generosity went to her core," Jones said.
Friend, colleague, and current faculty adviser to Hilltop Views Jena Heath spoke about her friendship with Kay, which began shortly after Heath was hired to be the Austin American-Statesman's Washington correspondent.
Heath visited Austin for two weeks in 1999 to make contacts and meet people as she began working for the American-Statesman. Heath had asked around to find the most knowledgeable people to speak to, and Kay, also a journalist for the American-Statesman at the time, had been highly recommended.
"Everybody said I should meet Michele. That was the beginning of our friendship," Heath said in an interview.
Heath said that during their meeting, Kay ordered Heath to take notes while she explained how Texas government worked.
"She was the epitome of what a teacher should be," Heath said.
At the memorial service, Heath announced the creation of a new scholarship and the re-naming of a previously existing scholarship in honor of Kay.
The Michele Kay Outstanding Student Journalist Award was created this year and will be funded from the Hilltop Views budget. It is a $300 award for a graduating senior who is a journalism minor, has worked at least three semesters at Hilltop Views and who intends to pursue a career in journalism. It will be awarded for the first time at Honors Night on May 2.
Heath said that Kay and her husband, Robert Schultz, endowed the Michele Kay Outstanding Portfolio Award in 2005, "with a very generous gift to St. Edward's." The award was recently re-named in honor of Kay.
"What she feared most was being forgotten. She wanted to know that she had left a legacy. I assured her that she had, and that we would never forget her," Heath said. "We know these awards will keep Michele's memory alive."
After the memorial service, many headed to the Doyle Hall Courtyard for a reception, where friends shared stories about Kay's intellect, honesty and kindness.
Professor of American Studies for New College Paula Marks remembered being Kay's teacher.
"She was always a delightful student that brought that intense curiosity," Marks said. "She had a very incisive mind and a fascinating history."
Kathy Warbelow, business editor for the American Statesman, spoke about being Kay's boss when Kay was a business columnist for the newspaper.
"Michele used to work for me, which means she taught me a lot. To be her editor, you'd learn," Warbelow said. "She had a powerful intellect."