Sanctae Crucis Award Winners 2026
The Sanctae Crucis Award is the highest non-degree accolade that the College awards alumni.
Those who earn the distinction have distinguished themselves professionally and in the service of justice, embodying the Jesuit ideals outlined in the College’s mission.
Tom O'Brien: Outstanding Community Service
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Neighborhood Connections
Tom O’Brien has been the Director of Neighborhood Connections since 2007. During his tenure, Neighborhood Connections has distributed over $20 million in grants to grassroots groups and organizations throughout Cleveland and East Cleveland, Ohio.
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Building Bridges
Before working at Neighborhood Connections, Tom was a community organizer in Cleveland’s Broadway-Slavic Cillage neighborhood for five years, working with residents to effect change in their neighborhood and bridge relationships across racial lines.
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Cleveland Clinic and the Community
One of Tom’s initiatives connected medical administrators at the Cleveland Clinic with community members, resulting in a program providing employment preferences to local residents whose neighborhoods were impacted by the Clinic’s growth.
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Jesuit Volunteer Corps
Tom served as an Area Director with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps for three years in Portland, Oregon, and also taught and coached at the high school and junior high school levels in Connecticut and Texas.
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A Holy Cross Family
Tom is the third generation of his family to attend Holy Cross, and the father of Elle O’Brien, Class of 2027.
Sheila Cavanaugh's Lifelong Journey to Service
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Teaching, from Parishes to Prisons
Her volunteer experiences include teaching Religious Education and serving as a Eucharistic Minister and lector at parishes and prisons in Concord, Belmont, Boston, New Haven and New York City.
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Working for Refugees
She spent a year volunteering for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Southeast Asia and completed several tours in Bosnia and Croatia to support refugee resettlement following the Bosnian War.
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From Wall Street to Mass General
Professionally, she was an Assistant Treasurer at Chase Manhattan Bank; an Associate at the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan; a Consultant with Coopers & Lybrand; a Senior Vice President at Fidelity Investments; and is now the Director of Spiritual Care at Mass General Brigham.
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When Suffering Becomes Service
The deaths of a younger sister and an older brother, and the steady decline from Muscular Dystrophy of another sister and brother, continue to shape Sheila’s understanding of life. Like St. Ignatius, she grew to understand that suffering can be transformed through service to others.
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"I Will Serve You for the Rest of My Life"
This belief was amplified when she was 26 and suffered a debilitating stroke herself. Paralyzed on her right side and with severely compromised communication skills, Sheila made a promise to God: “If you restore me, I will serve you for the rest of my life.” Upon recovery, she left her job on Wall Street and moved to Southeast Asia where she taught English at a Vietnamese Refugee Camp, meeting her husband, Albert, in the process.
Maryclaire Dale Promotes Justice Through Journalism
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West Virginia to the Caribbean
Maryclaire Dale is a longtime legal affairs writer and a 2018 Nieman Fellow and adjunct at Harvard. Her career has taken her from the West Virginia coalfields to a Caribbean murder trial to the sexual assault trials of Catholic priests and actor Bill Cosby.
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The Cosby Trial
Her work unsealing Cosby’s testimony in a confidential deposition led to his 2015 arrest and two criminal trials.
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NFL Concussion Settlement
Dale has also closely covered the $1B NFL concussion settlement, publishing a 2021 investigation of race bias in dementia testing that led to more than $100M in new awards and benefits for Black players.
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From Seoul to Tehran
Dale's 2021 story on the lax prosecution of campus rapes aired in print and TV markets around the world, from Seoul to Tehran, and helped one woman seek justice.
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Pulitzer Finalist
She contributed to the AP's coverage of the Trump assassination attempt, reporting from Butler, Pa., which was a Pulitzer finalist for Breaking News in 2024.
John Klofas Finds Solutions To Further Justice
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An Early Commitment to Justice
John’s commitment to justice began at Holy Cross, where he volunteered at Walpole State Prison, addressing inmate grievances.
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Advancing Reform, Improving Systems
In 2000, John founded and directed a research center to analyze criminal justice data to inform public policy for the criminal justice system. John secured more than $40 million in external funding to advance reform and improve systems of accountability.
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A Life of Service in Rochester
John has committed many hours to volunteering in Rochester and has been recognized by the Boys and Girls Club for his support of literacy. He also received the Faith in Action award from the Community of Churches for his work for the House of Mercy homeless shelter.
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A Local and National Focus
John has served on numerous national and local task forces, lending his expertise to create solutions to challenging legal system issues. He participated in a long- term partnership with the United States Department of Justice leading to reform in five major police departments found in violation of civil rights.
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The Center for Public Safety Initiatives
John founded and directed The Center for Public Safety Initiatives at Rochester Institute of Technology, which has become a nationally recognized force in criminal justice education and research. While John retired in 2020, he currently serves as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at RIT and continues to influence students focused on the criminal justice system.