March 1990

Ramology. In February 1960, Fordham changed forever with the dedication of the Campus (McGinley) Center. Cited by many as the ugliest building on campus for its radiator style architecture, the Center won professional acclaim for its architect who admitted that he had "aimed at spatial nobility" and had wanted "something that would resemble Grand Central Station." Among other things, the Center housed The Ramskellar which, on its opening, legitimized consumption of beer on campus. Despite protests that it was "tacky," The Ramskellar became every student's favorite social scene. Long a campus gathering place, the Center, and in particular The Ramskellar, is for many of today's students the place where their father met their mother.

Welcome to the Alumni Association '89. Who are these people, this Class of 1989? Critics note that their ambition is tempered by altruism, that their high standards are linked to high-mindedness, that they want the best for themselves and for others too and that they like David Letterman. Your alumni association is looking for a few good people, and 1989 is a nice round number.

Three Fordham Alumni now coach Division I basketball programs: Dick Tarrant '51 (Richmond), P.J. Carlesimo, Jr. '71 (Seton Hall) and Jack Armstrong '86 (Niagara). During their collegiate playing careers, this trio netted a total of 8 points; however, they are eminently successful from the bench, having accumulated a total of 379 career wins as of this writing.

The Rose Hill Gymnasium was an athletic palace of its day. The Gym was dedicated on January 16, 1925 by University President Edward P. Tivnan, S.J. who earlier had been so outraged by "the commercial element" in college athletics that he had advocated a ten-year ban on all intercollegiate athletics. Fr. Tivnan undoubtedly would have been proud of Fordham's present graduation rate (96%) of its student athletes which is the highest rate in the nation among colleges and universities offering athletic scholarships.

Fordham athletic programs have been suspended several times during the University's history. In each instance, the administration asserted economic reasons for the suspension. No University athletic team has ever been sanctioned or suspended because of a violation of ethics or alumni misconduct. While some applaud this record, particularly in light of allegations of misconduct at other institutions, Tradition wonders if the failure of any Fordham athletic program to receive a suspension because of alumni misconduct merely reflects exemplary behavior on the part of alumni or even that our ethics professors attained some measure of success.

Mark this date in maroon. The Tenth Annual Fordham College Dean's Day will be celebrated on Saturday, April 21, 1990. During the day's events, an Alumni Achievement Award will be presented to distinguished alumnus John Feerick '58. Contact Ed Buckley of Alumni House (212) 841-5340 for details.

The Colonial Controversy. While tabloids question Fordham's entry into The Colonial League under such headlines as "Is Fordham Trading Its Basketball Tradition For Academic Prestige?", Joe Burke '67 demands to know, "If not, why not?" Meanwhile, Bill Urquhart '69 praises Fordham's entry into the league and states that "it will pay huge dividends in terms of (the University's) prestige as an academic institution for years to come." In other news, officials have announced that league members may award need based scholarships to qualified student athletes and that the league has secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Basketball Tournament beginning in 1993. Finally, in an effort to quell the Colonial controversy, the league has announced that it will henceforth be known as The Patriot League and thus appears to have created the Patriot problem.

Reader North Callahan '72 advises that lost amid the hub-bub surrounding Fordham's participation in the first televised football and basketball games is the band's performance in the first televised half-time show. The show was broadcast on September 30, 1939 during the Fordham-Waynesburg football game. Because the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders had not yet been born, half-time entertainment consisted of the Fordham band, under the direction of Captain Ernest Hopf '40, in a sprightly rendition of Kenyon Scott's "Fordham Forever."

Board Member Leo Connelly '51 announces the Third Annual Fordham Tennis Outing to the semi-finals of the Tournament of Champions at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York on August 25, 1990. A bountiful brunch will precede an afternoon of superb tennis featuring the play of Lendl, Chang, McEnroe and Agassi. Contact Kate State of Alumni House (212) 841-5340 for details.

Honorary Chairman Vince Scully '49 and the Visiting Committee on Athletics advise that the Sixth Annual Fordham Golf Classic will be held on October 1, 1990 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Contact Frank Marino of the Development Office (212) 841-5450 for details regarding sponsorships and participation.

Fordham Crew Sweats! Alumni may order genuine Fordham Crew sweats. Contact Jim Sciales '87 c/o Tradition to place your order. . . . Congratulations to oarsperson Jennifer Florio '93 who won the club singles at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta and to Coach Ted Bonano whose Ram rowers, just back from an extensive two week training period in Guatemala, "raced" to victory in a 2,500 meter indoor ergometer competition against other Dad Vail division schools at the New York Athletic Club.

Still more McCluskey. Pete Cava '69, the director of press information for The Athletic Congress, decries the fact that Fordham Olympian Joe McCluskey '33 has not yet been voted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame. Tradition agrees with Pete, condemns the inaction of the voters and enrolls Joe as a charter member in its all-time all-Fordham track and field team. Readers are encouraged to nominate others to the team.

More Bellan. In a further attempt to get his name in print, Pete Cava '69 advises that William (Steve) Bellan '71 (i.e., 1871) who was recently inducted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame, was the first Latin American to play professional baseball in the United States. According to reports, Steve, who played for the Troy Haymakers in the days before gloves (gloves were not introduced until 1874 and were not padded until sometime later), was an erratic thrower from third base and only a fair hitter. He was among the first to introduce the sport to his native Cuba and managed the Havana team to three Cuban championships.

Please advise Tradition of your vote for the ten greatest performances or events in Fordham's sports history.

University President Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J. visited El Salvador as part of a delegation of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities to express solidarity with the Jesuit University of that nation, the site of the November shooting of six Jesuits. . . . Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., the Father General of the Jesuit Order, and Rev. Jose-Maria Tojeira, S.J., the Jesuit provincial in South America, have selected Rev. Dean Brackley, S.J., a Fordham theology professor, as one of five replacements for the Jesuit priests slain in El Salvador. Fr. Brackley states that it is "a grace and a blessing for Fordham to share in some small way the sufferings and hopes of El Salvador today."

Professor James McCabe, who taught English at the College for over 31 years, purportedly was refused a doctoral degree from an Ivy League university because his mentor could not accept McCabe's radical interpretation of Milton and because McCabe refused to back off from that interpretation. Years later, when revisionists advanced McCabe's ideas, giving him full credit, the Ivy League university came hat-in-hand and offered McCabe his degree. "Gentleman Jim" politely refused. One of McCabe's passions was the continuing education of alumni. His first three lectures in the freshman survey course were devoted to great books to be read by his students during their middle age when presumably they would need some stimulation. A complete listing of McCabe's selections may be obtained by writing to Tradition.

The Faculty. Amy Vedder has won a prestigious Clare Booth Luce Fund professorship for women in the fields of biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics. Dr. Vedder, who studied the mountain gorilla in Rwanda in central Africa, works in the area of conservation biology and ecology. . . . Mary Procidano, assistant professor of psychology, recently published an article, "Egalitarian Spouse Relations and Wives' Marital Satisfaction in Intergenerationally Linked . . . Families." . . . H. Wayne Storey, assistant professor of Italian, has been awarded a fellowship by the American Counsel of Learned Societies to write a book on the manuscript traditions of early Italian lyric poetry.

Dr. Allan Gilbert states that 80 percent of the time spent on the Rose Hill Manor archaeological dig is devoted to figuring out what the diggers have found. Among the items uncovered to date are broken glass and old marbles which Gilbert and his colleague, Dr. Roger Wines '54, believe may date from the administration of Rev. John Larkin, a British Jesuit. Research indicates that Father Larkin forbade the celebration of St. Patrick's Day in 1851 because he thought there was too much "drunken revelry." In protest, some students broke all the windows on campus by throwing marbles at them. The alleged ringleaders were discovered and summarily expelled. Further research may reveal whether the marbles found were the actual marbles thrown by these original student protestors.

Through one of the nation's largest internship programs, Fordham students work with more than 2,000 organizations as interns in business, communications, education, government, health-care, law, the arts, politics, science, and social work. Contact Greg Pappas of the Career Planning and Placement Center (212) 579-2152 for details.

Please advise Tradition who, in your opinion, are the ten Fordham alumni who have had the greatest impact on mankind.

Robert J. Reilly '72, Chancellor of the Fordham University Historical Society, announces the celebration of Founder's Day at a liturgy and luncheon on Rose Hill on June 22, 1990. As part of the day's events, Michael Sheahan '47, the Secretary of the University, will be inducted into the Order of St. John. Contact Ed Buckley of Alumni House (212) 841-5340 for details.

RAMembrances. John Hogan '36 remembers evening sessions of the downtown College in the Woolworth Building and experiences that forged lifelong friendships. John and his classmates were "serious in their studies . . . in the midst of the great Depression . . . shouldering more than eighteen hours of class . . . after the ardors of a working day . . . blanking out the strings of the Sanitation Band practicing Verdi in the streets below, topped off by lengthy subway rides to home and midnight suppers."

Reader Mark Gaynor '52 advises that the words to "Alma Mater Fordham" were written by his granduncle, Rev. Hugh Augustine Gaynor, S.J. and that the music was written by Frederic Joslyn, the conductor of the Glee Club. . . . Denzel Washington '77 notes that Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who founded the first Afro-American regiment in the Civil War and who is portrayed in the motion picture "Glory," is an alumnus of the University and attended the Second Division from 1848 to 1851. Col. Shaw was killed in the battle for Ft. Wagner in South Carolina. He is remembered by a handsome bronze sculpture by St. Gaudens which faces the State House at the Boston Commons.

The Third Generation - The Lanchantins. Denise L. Dwyer '80 advises that her paternal grandfather, George R. Lanchantin, Sr. graduated from Fordham Law School in 1925. George did not attend Fordham College because at that time Fordham law students were not required to have a college degree. On graduation day in 1925 George, who had attended law school at the downtown campus, had to ask for directions to Rose Hill since he had never been there. Denise's maternal grandfather, Joseph F. X. Cully, graduated from Fordham Law School in 1929 but did not have to ask for directions. Her father, George, Jr. graduated from the College in 1951, and Denise and her husband, Phil Dwyer, are members of the Class of 1980.

Sesquicentennial Chairman Eugene J. O'Brien, S.J. announces that, during the celebration of Fordham's 150th Anniversary from September 1990 to September 1991, the University will sponsor "The Twenty-First Century Series," a program of major academic symposia which will be delivered by distinguished Americans throughout the year. The symposia topics include issues in business, law, education and social services which Americans are expected to face in the twenty-first century.

TRADITION: Minister of Propaganda: George P. McKeegan '69; Arts & Entertainment Editor: Anne E. Bowen '80

FORDHAM COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: President: John Chervokas; Vice-Presidents: Annemarie DiCola, Peter A. Flihan, Jr., Hon. James J. McGuire, Gerri Cunningham Pare and John C. Walton; Secretary: Edward A. Pisacreta; Treasurer: John J. Pettenati; Directors: William F. Banks, Patrick Burke, Gerard Byrne, Leo B. Connelly, Stephen J. DeGroat, Gerald G. Haggerty, Mary Ellen Hoffman, Carol A. Kozeracki, David P. Kulo, Karen Manning, Richard Marrin, John V. Russell and John P. Valente.