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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924
Volume C, Issue 7
FREE
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 8, 2019
President Brennan O’Donnell’s Contract Extended until 2024 Megan Dreher Editor-in-Chief
Chapel Condition Growing Concern Condition of chapel is concerning as falling plaster plagues much of its ceiling. BRIAN ASARE/ THE QUADRANGLE
Campus Chapel in Need of Repairs Jessica McKenzie Staff Writer
Since it was built in the late 19th century, Manhattan College has proudly shown the Chapel of De La Salle to prospective students and parents. Recently, however, students who frequent the chapel have noticed caution tape wrapped around a number of the pews inside. During this year’s Fall Convocation, which was held in the chapel, a few students even found drywall atop their seats in the pews. According to Father Tom Franks, who has been the chaplain at the college for three years now, the deteriorating condition of the Chapel of De La Salle has been an issue for at least a year. Last spring, Father Tom was working in the chapel in the middle of the night for 24 Hours for the Lord, an all-night vigil that allowed students to come to the chapel and pray at any hour. Walking around, he noticed plaster sprinkling down from the ceiling and put a work
order into the Physical Plant. Now six months later, plaster and dust continue to regularly fall from the ceiling above the sanctuary, right where Father Thom sits during services. “It’s very visible. People will see it. We need open lines of communication to know what is happening with our chapel,” Father Tom said. But this is not the first time he has seen this problem. As a priest who has worked in many chapels with high ceilings, he speculates that the issue might be roof leakage in Smith. If that is the case, Father Tom understands that this is a substantial undertaking. Much like the Chapel of De La Salle, the Chapel of the Holy Infancy in Memorial Hall, has its own maintenance issues. While the scale of the issues are different, the space in Memorial Hall has pews that need repairing but there is no caution tape in the small chapel. The number of maintenance issues across campus are mounting, but Father Tom is mainly concerned with the Chapel of De La Salle. The
IN FEATURES: Learn the student Families visit students for government campaign rules on family weekend on p. 4 p. 3
IN NEWS:
ceiling damage is coming dangerously close to the stained glass windows that were just installed in April 2016. Father Tom acknowledges and appreciates the hard work of the Physical Plant workers. “There is a great emphasis on our charism and presence on campus… I think we should make sure that the college has the resources to direct their attention on the issues that are impacting the community.” The condition of the chapel is also a concern to the students on campus who use it regularly. Senior Naomi Uy, president of Music Ministry and member of the orchestra on campus, uses the chapel for rehearsal every Sunday and Monday night. “If we’re doing a performance or mass for [prospective students or parents], the quality of our performance is lessened because we can’t be proud of the state that the chapel is in,” Uy said. She also described the dangers within the chapel. The stairs leading up to the choir __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
President Brennan O’Donnell, Ph.D., will continue to lead the Manhattan College community through the 20232024 academic year, following his contract extension granted by the board of trustees. O’Donnell has served as president since July 1, 2009, the 19th president in the history of the college and the first lay president to serve in the position. In serving as president, O’Donnell believes that this extension is due in part to the work he has done over the past ten years to further the Lasallian mission on campus. “When you think about the major responsibilities of a president of a school, it’s to try to set the tone and the vision around the mission of the school. The mission of the school, and we’re very proud of it, is a Lasallian Catholic identity. It’s been a major part of what the trustees have charged me to do, so I guess the fact that they’ve decided to keep me around for another few years after having done ten years is a sign that they believe that we’re doing a good job staying true to our mission,” said O’Donnell. But O’Donnell admits that the position of president was not one that he actively sought out. He began as a young faculty member at what was once known as Loyola College (now Loyola University) in Maryland. He was later appointed by a dean at Loyola to run a university-wide honors program, which he led until his next appointment right across the borough as dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. This was his first leap into full time administration, and the last position held before coming to Riverdale. President O’Donnell believes that his initial leap into administrative work was grounded in that same enthusiasm that has extended his contract: the Catholic mission. “It was something I got into by small, small steps up on the way,” said O’Donnell. “The
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draw for me was the mission, the Catholic intellectual tradition, the Catholic university and the question of how are these institutions, which have been historically grounded in these deep traditions, going to continue to be authentically in that tradition when there are declining numbers of people in religious orders working on campus and in the community.” Admittedly, president O’Donnell notes that he has skipped a few rungs on the ladder to reach the position of president at MC. While surpassing positions such as department chair and provost, he has used his past experience with different institutions to invest himself in the Lasallian mission. “We have more in common [with the Jesuit mission] than we have different, we’re grounded in the same spiritual tradition, the same ideas about human beings and what they’re for. Historically, the brothers are distinguished as they were founded solely to be educators. The Jesuits were not, they were founded to do whatever needed to be done,” said O’Donnell. He continued, “The brothers started precisely for educational purposes and particularly the education of the poor or the disadvantaged and the marginalized, those who otherwise would not have access to quality education. That makes a big difference in the way Lasallian institutions have grown up and the way Jesuit institutions have grown up. While we are very proud of our liberal arts tradition, we from the start, offered programs that were more on the professional preparation side of the scale. We’ve always had that kind of double-mindedness.” Not only is O’Donnell able to pull from his experience at Fordham to serve him well as president, he is also able to pull from his experience inside of the classroom as an English professor. “I often say that the best preparation for being involved __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
IN SPORTS:
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