In February, the color red proliferates. Primarily because of Valentine’s Day, but in recent years a national campaign has co-opted the striking color to raise awareness about cardiovascular health.
If you’ve been seeing activities on campus this past month related to American Heart Month, you can thank Jen McCarville ’25. She was the prime mover behind a series of campus events to help educate fellow Saints about taking care of their health and supporting those battling heart disease.
Jen has a personal stake in the matter. Her mother Shelli died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2020 of a cardiovascular episode at age 59. She had no previous diagnosis, and there were no warning signs. Jen, an only child, was a senior in high school at the time.
“She had no heart issues that we know of,” she said. “It just happened out of the blue.”
Jen had an idea – quite a few of them, in fact. She drew on her talent as a singer and her skills as a marketing/communications major to plan a slate of February events at Siena to raise awareness, funds and friendship regarding heart health. Her first step was to reach out to the Franciscan Center for Service and Advocacy. She connected with Donna Bradbury, director of the Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women, and they did a “one-hour brain dump” about this list of plans.
Jen is a singer. It’s a big part of who she is, and it’s a talent she shared with her beloved mother. She has performed on campus as part of Fall Fusion and other events, and is a soprano in Psalm 150.
“I know performing events are popular with Siena students, so I thought a talent show would be a great fundraiser that fits who I am and would also honor my mother’s love of singing.”
The February 18 showcase in Casey’s featured four student singers: Jen, Veronica Forth ’23 and Brad McCaffrey ’24, Joseph Duran ’26, who performed several songs each.
Jen jokes that her dad “couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket,” but her mom was “big into music, and everyone in her family is musically inclined.” Whether it’s performing ballads or covers of Sam Smith and Adele hits, singing allows her to connect with her emotions, which now includes remembering and honoring her mother.
The talent show was just one of the events she organized this month. She hosted an informational table in the SSU on February 3, the National Wear Red Day originally created by the American Heart Association and since adopted by other health agencies. There was also a yoga session, and a sale of floral bouquets.
How could this impact young adults who are college age and generally not seen as candidates for heart problems?
“We all need to be aware that the actions we take now can impact our heart health later in life,” she explained. “What we eat, how much exercise we get now will make a difference down the road.”
Jen added that college students who are educated about heart health can also be motivated to help others in their lives.
“If I can be that one person who can take that one step to help another, then I’ll do it.”
In addition to planning all of Siena’s Heart Month events, Jen developed a marketing plan to promote it, including social media content, flyers and more. As she’s learned in her Siena classes, “If more companies take advantage of this kind of outreach to connect people with their brand, it shows they care about consumers.”
Bradbury noted Jen’s passion and commitment to the event planning and the cause it supports.
“She presented me with a four-page plan for a series of student events, and I could immediately see that she is an impressive young leader who is highly creative and motivated,” she said. “She is completely unafraid to be her authentic self, which is refreshing when there's so much pressure to conform. I admire her commitment to raising awareness of heart disease. She channels her personal pain to a worthy cause in the hopes that others might be spared the kind of loss she experienced.”
February isn’t the only busy month for Jen. She is also a peer career advisor for the MacDonnell Career and Internship Center and an event coordinator with SNL. But music is her primary passion.
“My mom said I learned to sing before I could talk,” she said. “Music was always a huge part of her life, as it is for mine, even though we had different singing styles.”
Both mother and daughter were self-taught singers, honing their vocal skills while performing with their school and church choral groups.
“Singing has always been a way for me to express myself,” she said. “I discovered I was healing after my mother died when I realized I could sing again. Fall Fusion last semester sparked my comeback. Singing has always been a way for me to meet like-minded people.”
Diagnosed with autism as a toddler, Jen said that singing is a positive way for her to connect with other people.
“It’s hard for me to put my emotions into words, but I can share them in songs.”