A chance encounter between a St. Xavier University professor and a photographer at a New York City hotel ended in a Chicago movie premiere and ultimately honorary doctorates for the film’s creators.
At the St. Xavier graduation ceremony Sunday in Chicago’s Mount Greenwood community, the unlikely meeting culminated in producer Don Hahn and photographer Michael Carroll receiving their degrees.
St. Xavier professor William Kresse was in New York to be inducted into the Knights of Malta, an honorary order of Roman Catholics, when Carroll’s wife noticed the conspicuous jewelry of the order on Kresse. It so happened that the group had brought Carroll into Romania in 1990 for work. Carroll was sent there to photograph the crumbling communist state, but found much more. Carroll’s resulting work with the neglected children of Romania would ultimately be captured and transformed into the documentary film “Hand Held,” directed by one-time Tinley Park resident Hahn.
After speaking with Carroll, Kresse believed the message and intent of the film embodied the ideals and mission of the school and arranged for the premiere at the university as part of the Sweeney Family Annual Lecture series. “Out motto is ‘Success with Purpose,’ and I can’t think of two people who personify that message better than Don and Mike. Here are two professionals at the very top of their respective field, and doing it with principle and good will. Their sense of common good really aligns with what we do here,” Kresse said.
After the premiere, the school decided to bestow the honorary degrees on the duo. The award caught both Hahn and Carroll off guard. “My first thought was disbelief and suspicion. I thought there must have been a clerical error,” said Hahn. “It’s incredible, and it leaves me humbled. To be acknowledged is always flattering, but to be honored by an institution like this is particularly meaningful.”
Carroll agreed. “It’s really special. Even on my first visit I felt a special connection with the school, because this is a school that is doing what a school is supposed to do,” he said.
Hahn and Carroll also had the opportunity to address the Class of 2011 where they took the time to stress the importance of following one’s own mission and doing so for the betterment of all. “I tried to convey to them that they all have a very unique tool kit, and to use that tool kit to the best of their abilities,” Hahn said.
Hahn, whose father was the minister at Zion Lutheran Church in Tinley Park, is a director, producer and author. He has served as a producer on a number of blockbuster animated films, including “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.”
Carroll’s photograpy has appeared in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Time and Rolling Stone.
The pediatric AIDS epidemic he witnessed in Romania would cause him to begin a 20-year journey of providing relief to the devastated country. His mission took the form of Romanian Children’s Relief, an organization that aims to improve conditions for orphaned and disabled children of the country. Asked what he would do with his new diploma, Carroll said he planned to show it off. “I’ve never put any awards or diplomas on my wall, but this one is going up for sure with a big spotlight.”
© 2011 Sun-Times Media, LLC
