Xavier Alumnews: May 2007

A LU M N E W S O F X AV I E R H I G H S C H O O L

WHAT DOES

M AY 2 0 0 7

retirement MEAN TO YOU?

Six longtime Xavier teachers will be retiring at the end of the year. For more information, see page 17. Full details in the next issue of Alumnews.

In this Issue 8 Knights’ Turkey Bowl Victory Lights up the 2006 Season The Varsity Knights slammed Fordham Prep with a 28-14 victory at the annual Turkey Bowl Thanksgiving Day game. It was the Knights’ first victory since 1999, and the game capped off the end of a successful year for Xavier’s football program.

10 Xavier Hall of Fame Dinner Raises $55,000 November’s Hall of Fame Dinner raised $55,000 for the Ignatian Scholars Program. The dinner, held at Pier 60 brought in alumni, special guests and Hall of Fame members to pay tribute to the seven new inductees!

12 What Does Retirement Mean to You? Retirement can mean lots of things, but more and more retirees are finding traditional retirement options to be impossible. Some of our alumni reflect on the alternatives they’ve turned to when finishing their careers, and what the word “retirement” means to them.

D E PA R T M E N T S 1 2 3 18

President’s Message From the Headmaster News from the Quad Knights Corner

May 2007 Vol. 10 No. 1

XAVIER HIGH SCHOOL Rev. Daniel J. Gatti, S.J. ’59 President Michael LiVigni Headmaster

21 Class Notes 23 Mileposts 24 From the Advancement Office

Norma Piecyk Administrative Assistant to the President and to the VP for Advancement

Contributing Writers Karol Kurzatkowski ’06 Eric Lamar Rivers

Photography Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations Joseph F. Gorski Vice President for Advancement and Alumni Relations Eric Lamar Rivers Director of Annual Giving

Tony Correa Loual Puliafito ’00 Maxime P. Sinal ’07 Alumnews, the Xavier High School magazine, is published three times a year by Xavier High School.

Loual Puliafito ’00 Advancement Officer

Correspondence and address changes should be mailed to: Alumnews Managing Editor Xavier High School 30 West 16th Street New York, NY 10011-6302

Helene Strong Parents’ Association Coordinator

Or by email to benignom@xavierhs.org

Michael L. Benigno ’00 Managing Editor of Alumnews Director of Alumni Relations and Public Information

Barbara Ciulla Advancement Office Manager

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Dear Alumni, Parents and Friends,

Happy for the Present, Grateful for the Past

Xavier is blessed with young men who love their school and are proud of its traditions and present reputation. In three consecutive centuries now, thousands of students have passed through Xavier’s doors, but I imagine very few people know how it all began. To tell that story, I will share with you the tale of Xavier’s first student, Thomas Nugent, age 12.

August 25, 1847 was not unlike many a hot August day in the Lower East Side of Man-hattan, except for the fact that young Tom Nugent had an appointment with history.

At twelve years old he was the oldest boy in a family of six children; three girls and three boys. Susannah at fourteen was the oldest, then came Tom, followed by John, nine, Mary Jane, six, Ellen, three, and baby brother, Francis, one year old.Their parents, Thomas Nugent and Mary Clarke, had both been born in Ireland;Thomas in Keady, County Armagh, in Ulster.

As a young man of about nineteen, Thomas Nugent left Ireland, sailed on the “Sally of Newport” and landed in Quebec on June 13, 1821. He made his way to New York later that year, settled in an Irish neighborhood, and apparently found some work. In May of 1830 he married Mary Clarke and in the same year is listed as a grocer in the New York Directory.

By 1847 he was the prosperous father of six, having been a liquor dealer for the previous fifteen years.

He and his wife were concerned for the education of their boys. A Father John Larkin, a Jesuit from Bishop Hughes’ St. John’s College at Fordham, was in the neighborhood, and word was out that he was organizing a new Catholic Church and a school for boys. The school was to be made up of classrooms in a refitted basement of an abandoned Protestant Church on Elizabeth Street just north of Walker Street. The new establishment would be known as “The Church and School of the Holy Name of Jesus.”

The location was within ten blocks of the Nugent home; the Jesuits had a proven record in education; the boy would get a fine Catholic upbringing. No time to lose, Thomas Nugent must have thought. “Let’s go, Tom, I’m going to register you at Father Larkin’s new school.” Father Larkin sat at a desk with a book’s clean page in front of him when the Thomas Nugents arrived. Thomas Nugent, aged 12, was the first name written down in Larkin’s book of students. The rest is history. Other names would appear a few days later on September 1st, then again throughout September and into October, until the end of the year when the ranks of students had swollen to 120, but the distinction is Thomas Nugent’s that his name is the first, his date of entrance the earliest; he is Xavier’s first student.

Young Thomas Nugent had another distinction: his four years in school with the Jesuits covered all four locations the school has ever had. Originally located at Elizabeth and Walker Streets, the Church and School of the Holy Name of Jesus burned down on January 22, 1848; for the next five months the school operated from St. James Church, then for two years it was located in houses on Third Avenue, between 11th and 12th Streets. On November 25, 1850 classes began in the newly built L-shaped building at 49 West 15th Street, and at the suggestion of Bishop Hughes, to mark the occasion the school’s name was changed to “The College of St. Francis Xavier.”Thomas Nugent left Xavier in 1851 at the age of 16.The school must have made a good impression on the Nugent family:Tom’s brothers, John and Francis also attended, John for three years and Francis for one.Tom’s older sister, Susannah, must have liked Xavier too: she married a Michael Broderick in the first Church of St. Francis Xavier on 16th Street on January 3, 1853.

Families loving Xavier have existed for 160 years! Reflecting on that fact, I am very happy with the present and deeply grateful for the past.

God bless you always,

Rev. Daniel J. Gatti, S.J. ’59 President

MAY 2007

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FROM THE HEADMASTER

The Challenge of Ignatian Leadership Dear Xavier Alumni, Parents and Friends: As the school year begins to draw to a close, and the class of 2011 is registered for the fall, I think back to a letter that we sent to the parents of our current students this past summer. In that initial letter to begin the school year, I described Xavier’s hopes for each of our students: Our hope that each Xavier student would grow into a man of good conscience, a man of competence, and a man of compassion. I told our parents that it is my firm conviction that if their sons learn these three things, and incorporate each of these characteristics into his life, then they would become the man that God meant them to be, and a person who would know true success. Each of these three qualities, all of which are outlined and described eloquently by the Jesuit Secondary Education Association, is a model of leadership for a world that is in desperate need of leaders.

Too often we hear of leaders who take on the mantle of responsibility for their own gain. We hear every day of those who abuse the authority entrusted to them, both in government and in business; those who want to become leaders not because they want to serve but because they want power or money; those who expect others to pick up the mantle of responsibility for injustice and poverty. Xavier has long taught that individuals take on leadership roles not because of personal gain, but because the world will gain from it. We teach our students today the same lesson that you, our alumni, were taught when you attended Xavier: that the greatest calling is one that calls us to place our talents and hard work at the service of God and the world. At Xavier, we live and breathe this mission.

The challenges Xavier presents to our students are not an easy ones. But as our students come to understand, and you may already know, nothing worth having is easy to obtain.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince, a book that many of you might have read, wrote: “If you are to be, you must begin by assuming responsibility.

You alone are responsible for every moment of your life, for every one of your acts.”

At a recent honors assembly, I read these words by Saint-Exupéry to our students and challenged them to live by the example of many of our alumni.

Our students are growing up and becoming men in a time and place where people are quick to blame others for their failings; a world that tells them that it is easier to give up rather than to work hard. It is our goal to show them that failure is a part of life and that they must learn and grow from those failings, not make excuses for them.

Each of our students has the potential to become a leader and to achieve great things. I believe that their time here at Xavier fosters this, and I am grateful to each of you who, through your generosity and hard work, help the school in its mission of creating leaders in the Ignatian and Jesuit model.

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MIKE LiVIGNI Headmaster

“Students enjoy putting faculty through the paces for Jug-a-Teacher day

News from the

Quad

IN BRIEF: The tables were turned as the Jug-a-Teacher fundraiser brought students and faculty members to the Commons for an afternoon of fun…

Alumni speakers on Career Day entertained and informed our Juniors in an effort to give them hands-on career guidance about the choices they will make in the future…

The Annual Fund efforts are stronger than ever this year, as Xavier strives to reach its $2,000,000 goal for the 2007 fiscal year. Catch an update on page 5…

The newly formed Minority Alumni Council held several events, celebrating diversity at Xavier while uniting students with alumni…

One of Xavier’s newest teams, the Sabre Team, was formed by two ambitious sophomores. The team has grown and is now performing at a number of events…

The Xavier community turned out to be spectators at one of the most unique, new events we have each year, the annual Robotics Tournament, paired with the Science and Technology Fair…

JUG-a-Teacher Event Thrills Seniors Thousands of Sons of Xavier have served JUG throughout the years, but on Friday, January 26th, hundreds of current Xavier students packed the Commons to witness their favorite faculty members do what they hoped they would never have to do…serve JUG. The 2007 Senior Class Gift Committee sponsored the Jug-a-Teacher event and collected over $220 in bids from Xavier students who voted to have their teachers walk the JUG Line. Mr. Tom Gibbons, Director of College Counseling, hosted the event and made sure that his fellow colleagues had earned their jug service by running sprints, doing jumping-jacks, and walking the Jug line.

Mr. Eric Lamar Rivers, Director of Annual Giving, who established the Senior Class Gift Committee in 2006, said he was impressed with how successful the Senior Class Gift Committee has been in conveying the importance of all Sons of Xavier giving back to Xavier, but added that he hopes that this year’s class will set a new record with a participation of at least 65%. “We introduced the committee to increase participation from the younger alumni and to give them the opportunity to be involved in the fundraising process,” said Mr. Rivers. Last year’s senior class set a record at 55%, but Mr. Rivers hopes that this year’s senior class will shatter that record.

The money raised at the Jug-a-Teacher event will be used for this year’s senior class gift. The Class of 2007 will present Fr. Gatti with its donation on June 2, 2007 at the Baccalaureate Dinner. Plans for the donation include renovations of Xavier’s 4th floor between the Lynch and C-building, and the construction of an awning in front of the school building.

The 2007 Senior Class Gift Committee

MAY 2007

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News from the Quad

CAREER DAY GUESTS INSPIRE JUNIORS Today’s high school students have more guidance when choosing career options than ever before. The days of the standardized interest tests that were given for decades to provide a series of estimated interest and skillbased career possibilities have passed.

Past generations weren’t lucky enough to have concrete mentors or a guaranteed way to be exposed to different career options.

Xavier believes that all students should have the chance to gain practical knowledge about their real-world interests and aspirations. To assist with college planning, year after year Career Day at Xavier has given our Juniors a chance to meet and speak with a wide range of career-driven alumni and to learn a little about their world.

Career Day, held November 9, 2006 brought in a number of new guests who spoke to three sections of Juniors in 40-minute increments. This year’s keynote speaker was Pete Dowling ’68, a retired U.S. Secret Service agent, and once head of operations at it’s Washington Bureau. Prior to Career Day, Dowling collaborated with Xavier’s guidance and advancement departments, asking students to fill out a survey about their career aspirations and extracurricular activities. He detailed the results during his keynote address, empowering students with their diverse interests and their staggering potential. Speakers also included Karim Herdsman ’97, who spoke on his human resources and finance management work at Virgin USA; Michael Montelongo ’73; vicepresident of Sodexho, Inc.; and John Singler ’66, who spoke on his work as 4

ALUMNEWS

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(Top) Keynote speaker, Pete Dowling ’68 addresses the Juniors on Career Day. (Bottom) Stephen Stabile ’97 speaks on his work at Merrill Lynch. This is Steve’s 2nd Career Day!

a finance manager for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and also as a U.S. Army hospital administrator.

Dowling, Herdsman, Montelongo and Singler joined Frank Comerford ’73, Hon. John Countryman ’50, Dominick Gadaleta, M.D. ’78, Peter Hamboussi ’95, Daniel McCarthy, Esq. ’71, Dan Rodriguez ’58, Michael Sheehan ’66, and Stephen Stabile ’97, in addressing the Juniors.

“Career day provides our Juniors

with first-hand experiences from the ‘real world.’ More importantly, it helps our students understand that the dedicated alumni who return to Xavier were once Juniors and were faced with the same choices,” said Mr. Mike LiVigni, Xavier’s Headmaster. “There is a certain level of comfort for our young men in knowing that although they are faced with many career paths, there are lots of options to pursue.”

News from the Quad

Annual Fund is a Team Effort Fr. Gatti with Alumni Phonathon volunteers.

Student members of the Minority Alumni Council.

The 2007 Annual Fund goal is $2,000,000. As of April 1, 2007, 3,280 alumni, parents, and friends have generously contributed $1,603,107 in cash and pledges to Xavier High School. That’s exactly 80% of our goal. There is still time to make a gift to Xavier. A gift of any size will help us continue our mission of educating Men for Others.

This year’s Phonathons were very instrumental in helping us. Over 40 graduates and 20 parents volunteered their time and energy to call up their classmates and fellow parents. The alumni volunteer pool was more diverse than usual. We had alumni from as far as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts come back to Xavier to participate. The oldest caller came from the Class of 1941 while the youngest came from the Class of 1998. Through the Parents’ Phonathons in October, the Alumni Phonathons in January, and the Wrap-Up Phonathon in March, $348,000 was raised, surpassing our goal. If you have made a pledge, please fulfill that pledge by June 30, 2007. Last year, Xavier had $71,643 worth of unfulfilled pledges, and as our goal this year is $2 million, we cannot be successful if you don’t fulfill your pledge.

Gifts to the Annual Fund help cover the gap of $3,000 between the cost of tuition and fees and the actual cost to educate each student. Further, gifts to the Annual Fund allow us to provide our students with a top notch Jesuit education and also enable us to award over $1,200,000 in scholarships to students who wouldn’t be able to attend Xavier otherwise.

—Eric Lamar Rivers

This year’s alumni phonathon had the highest attendance in recent history.

Minority Events Stir Up Diversity at Xavier Over the summer a group of African-American alumni of Xavier joined together with the Advancement & Alumni Relations Office to create a Minority Alumni Council (MAC). The work of the Council is to provide administrative and financial support to campus events with the goal of securing funds for scholarships and bringing minority alumni back to 16th Street. Participants will also help explore self-sustaining fund raising efforts while developing leadership and mentoring opportunities for minority alumni and support the ongoing alumni outreach efforts of Xavier. The Council meets bi-monthly and meetings are open to any alumni or friends of Xavier who would like to support the mission and goals of the Council.

On November 8, 2006 Xavier invited African-American and Latin-American alumni, parents and students to a reception to hear what the African-American and LatinAmerican Cultural Clubs have been working on. The event also provided the students with a chance to talk with the alumni about life after Xavier. Over 60 alumni, parents, and students were in attendance for this event.“This event is the first of many where we’re inviting minority alumni to come back to Xavier and share their experience with the current students and become mentors” said Mr. Eric Lamar Rivers, Director of Annual Giving and Co-Moderator of the African American Cultural Club.

Another reception took place on April 25th and even more alumni, parents, and student were in attendance.

The focus of this second event was on networking and career building. MSGT James Jones was also honored as he will be retiring from Xavier after 21 years of service to the JROTC and X-Squad. Christopher Alexander ’08 said “These events are great because they allow us to hear from alumni who have been in our shoes and we’re able to learn from them and plan better for the future.”

For more information on MAC and future events contact Mr. Rivers at 212-924-7900 x1436 or at riverse@xavierhs.org.

MAY 2007

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News from the Quad

SABRE GUARD TAKES FORM It was the brainchild of two Xavier sophomores, and it’s now grown to a full JROTC team. The Sabre Team had never existed at Xavier before, and Ray Brown ’09 and Jeff Cassara ’09 realized a great opportunity.

Until the 1940s, the sabre was used exclusively as a military weapon. Today, sabres are used for special events like weddings, funerals, as well as and honor guard presentations at formal military ceremonies and division parades. Brown and Cassara said the stature and sense of discipline that sabre guards seem to exude were appealing to them, and they brought their ideas to Lt. Col. Roy Campbell, head of Xavier’s JROTC program, in September 2006.

After their initial proposal, Lt. Col. Campbell approved the plan and announcements were posted around Xavier and in the school’s daily morning announcements. Meetings began and the first team of nine students was formed, with Brown and Cassara

installed as officers.

“There is something different about the Sabre Guard. It’s like a combination of a lot of other teams.

It has a performance aspect like the X-Squad and a fitness aspect like Raiders,” Lt. Col. Campbell said.

“There’s a certain excitement within the Regiment, with cadets very interested The Xavier Sabre Guard at a wedding in October. in those physical things rifles and marksmanship had grown to 18 members, including and sabres are one more element that 12 cadets and 6 pledges. Team memseems to attract young men.” bers are granted the privilege of wear“When we first started, we really ing their own cord, a special distinction didn’t know what a sabre guard did attached to cadets’ uniforms. Recent and the whole history behind it,” said appearances have included a fashion Roy Brown ’09, officer in command.“It was just an honor guard thing and now show at St. Saviour High School, the presidential inaugural ceremony for it’s progressed to be an honor guard, a the Bay Ridge Community Council, and funeral guard, ceremonial, and maybe an honor guard presentation for the next year we’ll add a competitive Children’s Leukemia Foundation Dinner aspect.”

By the spring, the Xavier Sabre Team at Chelsea Piers.

Science and Technology on Display at Xavier

On February 4, 2007 Xavier students packed the Commons gymnasium to witness the 3rd Annual Science and Technology Fair and Robotics Tournament held by the Xavier Science and Technology department.

Chris Duszka ’09 and Matthew Cassara ’09 teamed up to defeat the upperclassmen in a bridge-building competition, which was open to all students who thought they could construct a bridge spanning 24 inches, capable of holding 1600 grams—all with a limited supply of balsa wood and glue. Duszka, who is only in his sophomore year, has already won two bridge-building competitions!

The main event of the afternoon, the Robotics tournament between several teams in Mr. Mike Chiafulio’s Robotics class featured seniors David Sokolowski ’07 and Robert Hughes ’07. Sokolowski and Hughes earned 1st place in the head-tohead tournament by knocking off their opponents in the final round. The winning team and other members of the Robotics class said they look forward to recapturing success at the upcoming New York/New Jersey Botball Championships and at the Botball National Championship, the latter of which will be held this summer in Honolulu, HI. Numerous Xavier students, including members of Mr. Benjamin Suro’s honors chemistry class, prepared projects focusing on various topics in science; students Kevin D’Emic ’08, Hank Randall ’08 and Doug Moringiello ’08 took home the honors for a project they created focusing on the dynamics of solar energy.

Mr. Chiafulio, chair of the Science and Technology department, said he looks forward to entering some of next year’s projects to the New York City Science and Engineering Fair, and added that he credits this year’s success to the “creativity and dedication of the Xavier student body.”

John McGrath ’09 prepares his bridge for competition.

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The Xavier High School 23rd Annual Golf Outing

Packages

Maroon & Blue: $7,000 Includes 3 Foursomes, 3 Tee Sponsors, 3 Jesuit Sponsors, 6 Golf Raffle tickets and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Blue Knight: $3,500 Includes 2 Foursomes, 2 Tee Sponsors, 1 Jesuit Sponsor, 1 Golf Raffle ticket and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Maroon: $1,400 Includes 1 Foursome, 1 Tee Sponsor, and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Event Sponsor: $5,000 Includes a Foursome, recognition signs naming the tournament (The Your Business Name 23rd Annual Xavier Golf Outing), a Jesuit Sponsor, and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Golf Shirt Sponsor: $3,000 Talk about advertisement! Your Company Logo will be printed on all the Golf Shirts, a recognition sign will be posted, and an acknowledgement will appear in our Annual Report. Foursome and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Dinner Sponsor: $2,500 Includes 2 golfers, a recognition sign at the tournament and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Brunch Sponsor: $2,000 Includes 2 Golfers, a sign at the tournament and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Cart Sponsor: $1,500 Includes 1 golfer and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Sponsor a Jesuit: $300

Westchester Hills Golf Club May 22, 2007 www.xavierhsalumni.org/golf07 Register online today!

G O L F VA C AT I O N R A F F L E Xavier would like to send you and a friend on a 5-day and 4-night trip to the M Grande Resort & Spa in Myrtle Beach. You will be able to choose 5 out of the 7 great courses available!

$100 per ticket

Only 100 Tickets to be Sold, and the Raffle will be drawn the night of the Golf Outing!

(Winner need not be present; you will be notified by Xavier) www.xavierhsalumni.org/goraffle07

Adds a Jesuit golfer to the outing and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Hole/Tee Sponsor: $300 Includes 1 tee sign and an acknowledgement in our Annual Report.

Name: __________________________________________ Class of: ___________ Address: ____________________________________________________________ Phone: _____________________________ Email: __________________________

n Enclosed is my check made payable to Xavier High School for $____________ . n Please charge my credit card. n Mastercard n Visa

Card # ___________________________ Expiration ________________________

Please return Joe Gorski, Vice President for Advancement this form to: Xavier High School 30 West 16th Street New York, NY 10011-6302

MAY 2007

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Xavier Football Enjoys a Turn-Around Season The Xavier football program made great improvements all around this year. Coach Stevens explains the marked success.

The 2006 Xavier Knights’ season was one of the most successful in recent memory and ended up proving a bit of old advice to be true. Upon his return in 2004, Xavier Varsity Head Coach Chris Stevens ’83 said that many Catholic High School Football League coaches had warned him to be patient because it takes three years to turn a program around.

Three years later, the Freshman team under new Head Coach John Kelly went 7-1 achieving the best record in the program while beating five upper division teams (Holy Cross, Xaverian, Archbishop Stepinac, Fordham Prep and Cardinal Hayes).

The Junior Varsity team under Athletic Director and new Head Coach Rod Walker earned a record of 6-4 while peaking in the playoffs to capture the CHSFL “A” Division Championship beating St. John the Baptist 36-14. And

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while the Varsity team only went 5-6, they managed to achieve a number of milestones over the course of the season, not least of which, was a 28-14 win over Fordham Prep in what was arguably the biggest upset of the season in the CHSFL. Last year, the Varsity Football Team achieved its first winning regular season record in six years. This year, they won their first playoff game in seven years and defeated Fordham for the first time in the 21st Century. The “new” 1930s Single Wing offense employed by the Knights helped them to rush for 2460 yards, which was the most rushing yards gained by any team under Coach Stevens. The Varsity Knights also scored over 200 points this season (207!), which is only the sixth time in Xavier history that that has been achieved and also the first time that it was ever achieved in back-to-back sea-

sons (the 2005 Knights scored 208 points). The 49-12 playoff victory over Moore Catholic on November 5th, marked the most points any Xavier Varsity team has scored in a single game since the 1974 smashing of the Fordham Rams 54-6. The 2006 Varsity team also showed great improvement on defense. Three years ago, the Varsity team gave up 337 points on defense and was the most scored upon team in the CHSFL. This past season, they were the second least scored upon team in the entire 22-team league and they gave up only 146 points making them the 3rd best Xavier defense in the last 20 years.

When asked to explain why Xavier has shown such improvement on the Gridiron, Coach Stevens credited quality coaching staffs at every level. “If you put good people in front of the kids good things happen.” He also com-

The Varsity Football Team celebrates after winning the 2006 Turkey Bowl. Senior Max Sinal took this photo, which was published by several publications in the New York area.

ments that the staff is committed to running the same system of offense and defense on every level and that, “repetition and clear assignments breed aggressiveness and success.”

Finally, he said that events like Freshman Sports Information Night and the acts of speaking and scouting at a number of Little League football

programs around the city led to a spike in the interest in Xavier Football, which has resulted in competitive cuts being made on the Freshman level the last two seasons. He believes that Xavier attracts the type of players who have the quality of work ethic that has led to success. “I love our kids, most them have to commute at least an hour to

school and fulfill significant academic responsibilities, yet we average about 45 Varsity players in the weight room at 7:00 a.m. three times a week even though many of our football players participate in 1 or 2 other sports in the afternoons during the off-season.”

MAY 2007

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Fr. Gatti addresses the guests at the 2006 Xavier Hall of Fame Dinner at Pier 60.

A Hall of Fame Evening Close to 400 guests honored the seven newest inductees to the Xavier Hall of Fame on November 19th at a dinner held at Pier 60 filled with pride, tradition and a touch of elegance.

The success of the evening can be attributed not only to the recognition of fine accomplishments, but also to an underlying good cause. All of the proceeds raised from the dinner benefited the Ignatian Scholars Program, which challenges academically gifted and highly motivated 8th grade students about to enter Xavier to take demanding honors courses and to participate in special cultural and intellectual enrichment activities during their freshman and sophomore years.

November’s inductees were Rev. Kenneth J. Boller, S.J., Paul Curran ’49, Albert F. del Rosario ’57, William E. LaMothe ’44, Arthur McEwen ’51, Eugene C. Rainis ’58, and Rev. Vincent G. Potter, S.J. ’46, who was inducted posthumously. All of the living honorees gave acceptance speeches and were presented with the Xavier Hall of Fame proclamation.

Special guests at the Hall of Fame Dinner included Rev. Joseph McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, and the late Rev. James Loughran, S.J., president of St. Peter’s College. A number of previous inductees were also present, including Dave Anderson ’47, John Foley P ’77, ’79, ’81, ’86, Rev. James Keenan, S.J., Franklin GregoryP ’80, ’86, ’87, Rev. Patrick Sullivan, S.J., Hon. Walter Stadtler ’53, Bro. Richard Curry, S.J., head of the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped, Francis Morison ’58, and Rev. Joseph Novak, S.J. ’44.

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Boller

“ Curran

del Rosario

LaMothe

McEwen

Potter Charles Potter brother of Fr. Potter

Rainis

To be a member of the HOF is an honor in and of itself. To be a member of this class of 2006 has a special dimension…

For whatever successes that I’ve had, I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants.

When I think of Xavier or any of my other assignments, I always think of the people that have welcomed me, taught me, stretched me, become my colleagues and friends. I taught in the Math Department with legends like Finnigan, Thompson, Nash, Baker and Woehling. We explored the pilot school with Frs. Duminuco and Wood. And I learned how to be a Jesuit, a teacher, and a priest with examples in Jesuits and colleagues like Caulfield and Keenean, Lux and Dineen and Foley and Galbraith and Moroney and so many more.

There were retreats, sodality meetings, speech and debate, student council meetings, school dances—I had a lot of energy in those days. Through all the years and in different roles in Xavier and in Buffalo and at St. Aloyisius, in Harlem I’ve learned so much from you. You are my students who have taught me how to learn, you are my colleagues who taught me how to teach and to listen. You are trustees who give so much of yourselves in the service of the mission and have taught me to be generous. You are the alumni and parishioners who have welcomed me and taught me how to welcome others. And, of course, you are my family. My mother Gena, my late father, Vincent. Jimmy, Susan, Vinny, Barbara, the kids, and did I tell you I have some cousins… You have loved me and you have stretched me. You have stretched my love to embrace you all.

For all of these gifts, for all of you, I give thanks. Thanks be to God for the gift of you all, and I get to keep the award.

The dinner raised a total of $55,000, which benefited the Ignatian Scholars Program. Many thanks are extended toward the sponsors and guests who helped make the night a special evening!

To nominate a Xavier alumnus or someone close to the Xavier community for the Xavier Hall of Fame, please see the form on page 20.

”

Excerpt from Fr. Boller’s induction speech

MAY 2007

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Theories and answers from two of Xavier’s most active retirees.

Ray Madonna ’57

Jim Cooke’45

A recent, very informal, poll around the halls of Xavier asked staff members to recount the first word that comes to mind when thinking of retirement. The results were staggered: it was March, amidst winter that had brought spells of deep cold; we were inside a Jesuit school in New York City; those asked ranged in age from their early 20s through early 60s.

The most popular response was just one, simple word: golf. Golf was second only to a quiet, relaxing house by the beach. Other more colorful answers included “staying healthy,”“worrying about your health,”“fishing,”“Frank Sinatra,”“watching ‘The Price is Right,’”“rejuvenation,”“dedication to family,”“the film Grumpy Old Men,” and, finally,“Boca Raton.”

MAY 2007

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There’s a stereotype involved in the concept of retirement—that retirement is simply, cleanly, the moment when one makes the transition from occupation to preoccupation. It’s the day when priorities switch from what one needs to do, what one has to do, to what one wants to do. It’s undeniable that retirement is a shift from one period to another, but retirement today is often less of a conclusion, less of an endpoint than the start of something new.

When Ray Madonna ’57 retired from General Dynamics, one of the country’s largest military defense suppliers, in January 2005, the watch he received as a gift was a slight spin on the famed “gold watch.” It was a water-

His background includes 21 years of service to the Marines, with two tours in Vietnam, two years spent on the U.S. Naval Academy faculty and work with the Marine Corps Reserve Program.

After a brief stint in the computer software industry, he held a marketing position within a company in Cherry Hill, NJ that made communications equipment for the military. In 1990, he moved to a company in the same industry based out of Columbia, MD. Motorola purchased that company in 1995, and General Dynamics got hold of Madonna when it purchased the division in which he had been working.

By the time his first retirement opportunity came around in 1983, while he was in the Marine Corps, it was clear that the future would involve further employment. Madonna, who had married in 1969, was 43 years old and had

“Two days a week I work from home, and

Ray Madonna scuba diving off Maui, wearing the diving watch he was given as a retirement gift.

proof dive watch. An avid scuba diver, that spring he celebrated his 67th birthday with a dive in the waters off of Maui, a trip he and his wife make every other year now.

But once the celebration ended Madonna didn’t let any time pass before taking on a new endeavor.

“I came back from the trip and started consulting,” he said.“I had about three clients, and this past December one made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Today, Madonna spends four days each week working for his former clients’ communications business near his home in Kent Island, MD.“Two days a week I work from home, and two days a week I cross the bridge to go into work.

I never cross the bridge on Fridays.”

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two children who were almost in their teens. He knew he had to have a job that paid, and his family and his mortgage made that more of a requirement than just an intuition.

When asked about a traditional retirement he said he didn’t think it had ever crossed his mind. Growing up in Rockaway Beach, Queens in a home with two bungalows on Beach 99th street, he had seen his own father work until his 60s and then retire from his job as head of shipping for A. Sulka & Company, on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue.

Madonna recalls worrying about his father’s well-being after retirement.

“I had just gotten out of the Marines and I had said ‘Dad, it’s really important that you just don’t do nothing. You need to get up in the morning with a list to accomplish. I don’t care if you work just two or three hours—you do it, and you’ll have a feeling of accomplishment, and then you play.’” His father didn’t seem open to advice, Madonna said, and three years after that conversation he passed away.

In Madonna’s own estimation, it’s been a combination of mental and physical

stimulation that has kept him healthy.

In his free time, Madonna dives, loves to go boating, collects antiques, spends time computing, getting in an occasional golf game, and enjoys photography - “both on the ground and underwater.” He said his favorite pastime is a long walk with his wife on a beach somewhere in the world. In recent years, he said he’s had a good way of measuring his health, a measure he actually found in a neighbor who is two years younger than him, formerly in law enforcement. Madonna frequently joins his neighbor for bike rides or walks around Kent Island.“He’s in better shape than me and I’m constantly trying to catch up to him,” he said.“I have a lot of energy. I’m 67 now. My son thinks I’m an iron man and I’ll live forever, and my daughter probably has the same opinion.”

doing things because they are putting kids through college.”

Currently, Madonna said he’s in a bit of an overload. Work on a DVD he’s producing for a Naval Academy class reunion (a class which actually includes three of his Xavier classmates) has been pulling at his free time, but he’s not concerned with being over productive. His advice to anyone considering retirement is to stay occupied.“Man doesn’t function well without goals and a way to attain those goals. You’ve got to have a plan.” *** The home of Jim Cooke ’45 is a quaint, comfortable house on a corner in Cockeysville, MD. The house has five bedrooms despite its snug feeling, and the floors creak below the carpeting.

Cooke lives alone, after his wife of 31 years, Anne Fitzgerald, passed away in

two days a week I cross the bridge to go into work. I never cross the bridge on Fridays.”

He does, however, admit that his fourth career does have a few selfimposed limitations.

“I can see myself cutting back a little, but I have rules. The rules are these: I don’t work for someone I don’t like, I have to enjoy what I’m doing and like the product I sell, and whatever it is I’m doing, I have to like it. It has to be good for the country,” he said.

“If I look at the Naval guys I graduated with, I would say that 60 percent are really retired and they spend their time visiting grandchildren and doing other things. Twenty to thirty percent are still in the game, mostly because they want to be,” he said. And, again, he added, he never crosses the bridge on Fridays— it’s a self-imposed work restriction.

“Retirement, per say, is a function of the personality of the person retiring,” Madonna said.“It hasn’t got anything to do with he’s good, he’s better, he’s not good—it has to do with personality.

Retirement is not a decision that someone makes alone. The decision involves his wife and his family. There are people I know my age that are still working because they have to. They are busy

September 1987. He will turn 80 in September; he loves reading and speaks with the wit and speed of a twentysomething. Cooke jumps at the chance to speak of his family—six children in all, with four boys and two girls—and he boasts ten grandchildren.

Inside his living room, a hand-made ukulele sits on a sofa cushion beside a music book; a table lamp is lit between two reading chairs and the wall on one end of the room is lined with books. He said his grandchildren are the only ones who play around with the ukulele, which was made by his own grandfather many years ago.

The room next door is what Cooke refers to as his “New York Room.” A painting of an ocean scene hangs on one wall, while a map of Long Island hangs opposite. By his own account, it took him ten years to get used to not living in New York, after he moved his family to Maryland to take a job promotion in July 1971.

As a member of Xavier’s Class of ’45, Cooke’s memories of Xavier are laced with stories of war. On the night of December 7, 1941, he recalled being at

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15

a drill at the Armory on the Upper West Side. When he walked out of the Armory, he heard the news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Albert Butler, one of his Xavier classmates, had quit school after his Junior year to join the army. Classes ended in June, and by December his classmate had been killed in the Battle of the Bulge.

Cooke joined the U.S. Navy after Xavier and served stateside for one year.

He felt a sense of obligation to serve, and recalled a general feeling not of what can I do to stay out of the service, but rather, what can I do to get into it. Under the G.I. Bill, a year’s service granted him three years of tuition expenses. His choice to attend Fordham University had only been a possibility because of the assistance the government gave him, help he would never take for granted.

He studied business at Fordham from 1947 to 1951 and took a job at the Carr-Lowrey Glass Company’s midtown office as a trainee in December 1952 while he attended graduate school at NYU at night. Cooke and his wife were married in 1956 and lived in Nassau County, Long Island while starting their

Holy Spirit.” New Years Day 1991 was his final full day of work. In June 2003, after a steady decline and 114 years of existence, the company ceased operations.

Like Ray Madonna, James Cooke didn’t let much time pass before beginning a new chapter in his life. Four months after his retirement, his daughter Kate was married and over the next five years she had five children, quitting her job after her second child was born.

Cooke offered to help care for his grandchildren, and he said it was one of the most joyful decisions he’d ever made. He spent years watching his grandchildren grow while living off the pension and social security funds he had accumulated over his career.

One day, he received a pamphlet in the mail from St. Ignatius Church, in Baltimore, regarding a volunteer program at a school that connected mentors with disadvantaged youths. All the pictures in the pamphlet featured younger people, and he said he felt a sense of trepidation as he sought the advice of Rev. Jim Salmon, S.J. ’43, a Jesuit friend and former president of Loyola Blakefield High School, Maryland’s Jesuit school just fifteen minutes away from Cooke’s home.

Cooke and Fr. Salmon had kept in touch through the years, and three of Cooke’s sons were Loyola Blakefield graduates.

Fr. Salmon brought Cooke’s attention to another program, the Ignatian Lay Volunteer Corps, a structured network of lay volunteers founded in 1995 by two Jesuit priests to link volunteers over 50 years of age with service sites.

Jim Cooke was 77 years old when he began volunteering at St. Peter’s Adult Learning Center, in Baltimore, and the same sense of patient, persistent obligation he felt toward his own family seems to spill over into his description of his volunteer work. St. Peter’s offers job training and referrals, as well as daytime activities for about 40 mentally retarded adults. Cooke is one of five or six volunteers, and he spends Mondays and Fridays at St. Peter’s mentoring “clients” and supervising group activities

“The more you see, the less judgmental you become.” family. Over the next 19 years, he rose to the position of Assistant New York Manager and in order to accept the role of Vice-president of Sales and Marketing, he relocated. He missed New York, but, to his surprise, he found a community of transplanted New Yorkers to join.

Cooke said the decision to retire came after the company was purchased by a group of Wall Street investors who replaced most of the company executives, with the exception of himself, right away. The tides had turned, and management disagreements had made it difficult for him to adjust to the new executives. Still, his children were grown by that time, and most were married. It was his 38th year at Carr-Lowry, and he was 63.

“I agonized about retiring,” Cooke said.“I remember I sat up all night smoking a cigar until 3 a.m. praying to the

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like trips to gyms, other facilities, and restaurants, as well as special events and presentations. The adults with whom Cooke works come to the center on the days they have off from their various employers.

Once a month, Cooke meets with ILVC volunteers from over a dozen other service sites to discuss the progression of their service during a group reflection session.The reflection opportunities are similar to service learning programs popular in high schools and universities across the country, and help frame the volunteers’ service work while allowing individuals to discuss their challenges and share their accomplishments.

“We try to focus on the positive. It’s not a family or a club—we’re volunteers.” Cooke had never volunteered at any service agency before, and prior to St. Peter’s he had no exposure to individuals with mental retardation. He said many clients can’t read, can’t count, and cannot tell time. But immediately after Cooke started volunteering, he said he found the St. Peter’s clients to be some of the most endearing people he had ever met.

“The more you see, the less judgmental you become,” he said.“The more you’re involved with other people you have to accept the facts of their lives.

They are delightful people. In the past, we’ve had volunteers that usually stay just a year. I’ve stayed three now. You become attached to them, they’re wonderful people.

“Volunteering has opened up a whole new world to me that I knew existed, but didn’t know the extent to which it existed.” All of the volunteers at St. Peter’s are different, he said, and sever-

al come from other programs like Americorps or the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.

Cooke mirrored Ray Madonna’s perspective on retirement.“Retiring depends on your nature,” he said.“I can’t sit still. If you have strength and your health is good you have to do something. It is really an interesting phase in my life. I’ll be 80 in September and I can’t believe that I’m still around. That’s

the blessing of it, because there are still so many people like me. Once you start volunteering, it is something you don’t even think of. You hesitate at first, but once you do it you’re hooked.”

The ILVC has grown over the past 12 years of its existence to locations in 12 urban areas across the country. ILVC volunteers live in their own respective homes and commute to service sites two days a week for a minimum commitment of ten months. For more information on the ILVC, please visit their website at www.ilvc.org.

In April, six legendary Xavier faculty members announced that they would be retiring at the end of this academic year. Deacon Vincent Laurato (19 years), Mr. Rocco Iacovone (20 years), Sgt. James Jones (21 years), Mrs. Grace Lamour (36 years), Mr. Brian Moroney (43 years), and Mr. Hank Woehling (44 years) will all be sincerely missed by the current students and staff, and the many alumni whose lives they have touched.

Alumni are invited to attend a special reception to recognize these extraordinary men and women, held June 8, 2007 at Xavier. For more information, please call Loual Puliafito ’00 at 212-924-7900 x.1611.

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K N I G H T S

corner

T H E X AV I E R CO M M U N I T Y G E TS TO G E T H E R

B O S TO N , M A : March 29, 2007

WA S H I N G TO N , D C : December 6, 2006

P H O E N I X , A Z : January 24, 2007

P H I L A D E L P H I A , PA : December 5, 2006

CLASS OF

’06 REUNITES

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Xavier High School would like to thank all the hosts and sponsors who made this year’s Florida receptions possible: Mary & Tom Foley ’62 Mary and Ernie Wagner ’47 Grace and Rodger Shay ’54 Noreen and Joe Von Zwehl ’53 Helen and Constantine Vagionis ’50 John Balaguer ’53

S A N I B E L I S L A N D, F L : March 1, 2007

M A R CO I S L A N D, F L : March 2, 2007

M I A M I , F L : March 4, 2007

S T UA R T, F L : March 7, 2007

F O R T L AU D E R D A L E, F L : March 5, 2007

W E S T PA L M B E AC H , F L : March 8, 2007

BEEFSTEAK 2007 MAY 2007

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Xavier Hall of Fame

Xavier High School is pleased to announce that the President’s Office is now accepting nominations for the Xavier Hall of Fame. Qualifications for admittance into the Hall of Fame require that the person be a graduate, faculty member, or administrator at Xavier who has been outstanding as a “follower of Christ” in the tradition of St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Francis Xavier in the service of God and his or her neighbors, country, or civic community.

Please return this nomination to Xavier High School

by June 15th.

Your Name and Class Year (if applicable): _______________________________ Daytime Phone: _________________

E-Mail: ________________________

Nominee’s Name and Class Year (if applicable): __________________________ Briefly describe the reason for nomination: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Class Notes

by Karol Kurzatkowski ’06

1945 Richard Lohr sends his regards to his fellow ’45ers.

1948 Tom Kennedy is spending his retirement in the great Northwest where he enjoys fishing, square-dancing, and traveling to the east or Alaska.

1949 Bill Bolger celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary, his 75th birthday, and attended the annual Class of 1949 reunion all within the past year. He was honored as one of the 25 greatest players of the Georgetown Basketball Hall of Fame at a ceremony on February 10th. Rev. John McShane, retired pastor of Holy Family Parish in Canarsie, Brooklyn and retired chaplain in the US Army Reserve, will celebrate his Golden Anniversary to the priesthood on June 3rd at the Immaculate Conception Church in Douglaston, NY. 1951 Harold Sherrington has retired from his obstetrics-gynecology practice in Stamford, Connecticut.

1952 Luis del Rosario was honored at the Rotary District 7230 Gift of Life Dinner Dance on February 3rd for his commitment toward children facing medical issues worldwide. Among other accomplishments, Luis spearheaded several fundraising projects that helped raise over $300,000 for arthritis research. His work with the Gift of Life allowed him to be directly involved with saving the lives of over 100 children who suffered from various ailments and benefited from Gift of Life operations.

1953 Thomas Bonomo has retired from his private dental practice and is spending his time taking courses on the Civil War and Ancient Greece while brushing up on his Italian grammar.

1955 Jim O’Connell invites all Sons of Xavier to join him this year in Williamsburg, VA as the country celebrates the 400th

anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown. John Gallagher’s article on the link between religious fundamentalism and political extremism called “Why Are They Like That?” can be seen in the latest edition of the FBI’s National Academy Associate magazine.

1963 Ernie Dewald spent two weeks in the Gulfport, MS working as a forensic dentist following Hurricane Katrina.

1964 Sal Sclafani is the Chairman of Radiology at Downstate Medical School. Charles J. Reilly, Jr. eagerly awaits the birth of his second grandchild in June.

1968 John Crowe recently retired as sergeant from the Rockville Centre Police Department and will be splitting his time between Point Lookout, NY and Vero Beach, FL.

Members of the Class of 1947 and their wives met up for lunch while in Florida in late 2006! Pictured standing (l.-r.) are Bob Stolarik, Joe Loughlin, and Joe Meehan, along with Gene Malone (seated).“Gene, Joe and myself were members of the same commissioning class in the Marine Corps,” Stolarik wrote to Xavier.

“Joe was captain of the swim team at Xavier!”

1969 Jack Billi, M.D. is a professor of medicine and an associate dean at the University of Michigan Medical School.

1970 James Horris wished to acknowledge his son and daughter, who have both served in Iraq.

1975 Manuel A. Romero, Esq. was appointed Chairman of the New York State Grievance committee, which is responsible for attorney discipline in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

1976 Francis Connolly is the presiding judge of the Civil Division in the Minnesota State District Court.

1977 Richard A. Gallego has worked for the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (NY) for the past twenty-five years and looks forward to celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife, Mary Rose.

While in from California to attend a recent wedding, Jack McDermott caught up with The Grain House Gang, all members of the Class of 1956. The Gang held a special luncheon in Basking Ridge, NJ on March 27th, and ten members of the class warmly welcomed Jack, who was unable to attend his 50th Reunion due to an illness. The delayed 50th Reunion was a great success, and the group had a commemorative “Xavier 1956” banner made just for the occasion.

Pictured, standing (l.-r.) are Class of ’56 graduates Anthony Cusumano, Joe DeFoe, Nick Burriesci, Anthony Borrello, Anthony Cangemi and Nelson Deusebio; pictured sitting (l.-r.) are Joe Laferrera, Jack McDermott, Patrick Rouse, Charlie Ferrara and Fred Wolff.

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Class Notes

1978 Dan Gorman was awarded the FBI Director’s Award for Excellence on October 11, 2006.

1980 Paul Ching has been transferred by Citigroup to work in Hong Kong. Paul looks forward to hearing from other Xavier alumni in the region.

1981 Phil Lynch retired as a lieutenant from the NYPD, and has received his teaching license from the state of Virginia. Phil says he gained his inspiration to teach math from Mr. Baker and Mr. Finnegan.

Armand Raquel-Santos ’92 and Julian F. Morgan ’92 traveled to Boracay Island, in the Philippines, in July 2006 to visit Armand’s brother, Armin Raquel-Santos ’85. Pictured here are (l.-r.) Armin Raquel-Santos ’86, Armand Raquel-Santos ’92 and Julian F. Morgan ’92.

1984 Greg McCartney serves on the Board of Directors for the Engineers and Architects of Hawaii and has been selected by NASA as a 2007 Solar System Ambassador. Michael Walter completed his fourth marathon, the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, TX, with a personal record of 3 hours 54 minutes and 46 seconds. He hopes to run the Boston Marathon some time in the near future.

1988 Christopher Bilsback moved to Conway, South Carolina where he has taken a position as store manager with Lowe’s Home Improvement.

1990 Paul Piccard recently published three books on computer security: Securing 1M + P2P Applications (2005), Combating Spyware in the Enterprise (2006), and Emerging Threat Analysis (2006) 1992 Martin Camacho currently serves as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the emergency room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and as an adjunct faculty member for the Adult Care Nurse Practitioner Program at the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. Joseph La Ferlita has been appointed Vice Chair of the Committee on the Surrogate’s Courts of the New York State Bar Association’s Trusts and Estates Law section. This three-year position will call Joseph to

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discuss issues affecting the practice in the Surrogate’s Court and to recommend changes in policy and procedure.

1995 Christopher Geissler completed his second Masters Degree, a 6th Year Degree in Educational Administration and Leadership. He currently lives with his wife and son in Newtown, CT. 1997 Joseph Stapleton was awarded Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army and has since joined the Virginia National Guard. Martin Tubridy is the Director of Physical Fitness for the Health & Fitness Unit of the Local 3 Electricians Union. Ed Wahesh is the Director of Drug and Alcohol Education at Fordham University.

1999 After Xavier, Anthony Chionchio went on graduate Touro Law School and passed the New York State and New Jersey Bar Exams. Anthony currently works as an assistant district attorney in Nassau County. He is engaged and will be married August 31, 2007.

2000 Matthew D. Byrne graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Criminal Justice from John Jay College in 2006. He is currently the assistant Ice Hockey Coach at Fieldston High School in Riverdale and plans on pursuing his Master’s Degree at Hunter College. Jared Marinos graduated flight school on November 16, 2006.

Jared will now be stationed at the Hunter Army Airfield with the 3rd Infantry Division in Savannah, Georgia where he will be flying Blackhawk helicopters. Tim Williamson accepted the position of Assistant Director of Media Relations at Columbia University.

2001 Sean Miller was student council president at St. Francis College.

2003 David del Cuadro-Zimmerman will be graduating from the US Military Academy at West Point this spring, where he has been made the Dean’s List in every term.

Mileposts IN MEMORIAM Msgr. Robert R. Mazziotta ’33, pastor of emeritus of Our Lady of Pity parish on Staten Island, died on November 4, 2006. After attending Xavier, Msgr. Mazziotta went on to study for the priesthood at Cathedral College and at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York. He was ordained in 1941 and named a monsignor in 1965.

Auxiliary Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan celebrated the Mass of Christian burial, which was offered on November 8th at Holy Rosary Church where Msgr. Mazziotta once served as pastor. Edward Cardinal Egan, archbishop of New York, released a statement expressing his gratitude for Msgr. Mazziotta’s service to the church: “I have known Monsignor for many years and have always seen in him a dedicated priest of Jesus Christ…he demonstrated a deep commitment to the Lord and His Church.”

DEATHS Alumni Cornelius F. Bastable ’28, January 2, 2007 Anthony F. Posteraro ’34, January 4, 2007 Joseph A. Manganaro ’35, March 29, 2006 Hon. John A. Garbarino ’36, December 29, 2006 Martin F. Conroy ’39, December 19, 2006 Edward G. Cushing ’39, December 25, 2006 John J. Linney ’39, April 9, 2007 Charles Hess ’40, July 27, 2006 Leo A. Kiley ’44, January 13, 2007 T. Eugene Malone ’47, February 13, 2007 John M. Gibbons ’50, July 22, 2006 Richard F. Heimbuch ’56, December 11, 2006 William F. Walsh ’57, December 8, 2006 Eugene O. Duffy ’66, November 7, 2006 Kevin E. Honan ’69, June 17, 2006 Carlos P. Corton ’74, October 26, 2006 Stefan R. Bodnarenko ’75, February 12, 2007 Karl Dettmer ’86, November 15, 2006 Adrian B. Carney ’96, January 10, 2007

BIRTHS Family Anne Concannon, mother-in-law of Kevin Cuddihy ’86, January 29, 2007 David Corcoran, son of E. Peter Corcoran ’46, April 6, 2007 Anne Fitzgerald, sister of Francis Leahy ’41, April 24, 2005 Thomas P. Hanlon, son of Thomas J. ’58, November 28, 2004 Irene Herrmann, mother of Rev. Frank Herrmann, S.J. ’63, January 4, 2007 Catherine Leahy, wife of Francis ’41, May 9, 2006 Catherine Soyer, mother of Colin ’77 and Adam ’79, October 8, 2006 Anne Spartaro, wife of Christopher ’89, December 23, 2006 Gladwyn Vincent, father of Steven ’75, December 6, 2006

Anna Christine Bilsback, September 22, 2006 Theresa and Christopher Bilsback ’88 Griffin Xavier Geissler, November 30, 2006 Terra and Christopher Geissler ’95

WEDDINGS Thomas Moreo ’85 and Joelle Siegel, July 28, 2006 Francis Pope ’90 and Barbara Vasquez, September 22, 2006 Lucas Rosu ’97 and Kelly Martins, July 8, 2006

Friends Patricia A. Albert, sister of Rev. Joseph W. Lux, S.J., former Xavier faculty member, January 10, 2007 Lillian Buchanan, mother-in-law of Franklin Caesar ’72, former Xavier Assistant Headmaster, December 28, 2006 Michael Dormer, father of Patrick J. Dormer, Xavier faculty member, November 20, 2006 Karen M. Harkness, mother of Gregory Harkness, Xavier faculty member, December 26, 2006 Gertrude McCarthy, mother-in-law of Daniel Cronin ’63, January 7, 2007 Frances Myers, grandmother of Gregory Harkness, Xavier faculty member, December 1, 2006

Bill Cashman ’45 and his lovely wife, Jill, were married October 2, 2006! Bill and his wife celebrated their wedding with a fun-filled trip to Las Vegas in February, where Bill said he hit it big on the blackjack tables!

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FROM THE ADVANCEMENT OFFICE

I attended the Jesuit Secondary Education Association’s National Conference for Advancement and Alumni Relations held in Phoenix, AZ in late January.The conference was attended by representatives from 38 Jesuit high schools in the U.S.The agenda and the 100 + attendees provided many opportunities to discuss the multiple issues that affect each school’s fundraising performance and success.

One of the most informative sessions at the conference focused on increasing the endowments. Xavier, for most of its history, benefited greatly from its “living endowment,” the Jesuits who created the school and made up the majority of the faculty and administration.The costs of running the school were substantially reduced because the members of the Society contributed their services for small stipends to sustain the Xavier Jesuit community. Unfortunately that “living endowment” has been severely compromised by the graying of its current members and the

JOE GORSKI Vice President for Advancement

reduction of new vocations to the Society. As a result, there has been a decreasing number of Jesuit faculty and administrators at the school.

Less Jesuit and more lay faculty and administrators at Xavier, along with increased operating expenses, have resulted in higher costs each year. Social justice and market competition require fair salaries and benefits be paid to both recruit and retain an excellent faculty and administration. Increases in tuition can and will help to reduce these rising costs, but to fund these increased expenses by tuition alone could lead to reduced opportunities for a Xavier education to worthy students on the economic margins of poverty, and consequently compromise Xavier’s mission. Currently the Annual Fund is effectively “bridging the gap” between tuition revenue and operating expenses, but there is a great need to reduce the pressure on that source of revenue.

One of the ways to compensate for the reduced “living endowment” and the financial challenges it presents is to continue to increase the school’s financial endowment. Currently Xavier’s four endowment accounts (Strict/Scholarship, Faculty, Higher Achievement Program and Plant/Tech) total approximately $25,000,000. Although the total endowment has grown in recent years, it still is small in comparison to several other Jesuit and private high schools. In fact, it is well under the 2.5 times the operating budget, which is considered average.

Each million dollar increase in the endowment will add approximately $50,000 to school revenues annually.These additional funds can provide either needed dollars for financial aid or significant dollars to reduce operating expenses now being paid for by tuition or donations to the annual fund. When alumni, parents or friends make an outright or deferred gift to either the scholarship endowments or when they endow their annual gift to the annual fund, they will simultaneously provide for the future financial health of the institution they love and ensure their legacy for all time. We hope that some of you would consider funding a named scholarship ($150,000 funded either at once, in installments over a three to five year period or with an estate gift) or endow your annual fund gift in a similar way. For example, if you are currently contributing $1,000 each year to the annual fund, you could continue giving that amount annually, in perpetuity, by giving a $20,000 gift to endow it. In this way your gift will keep on giving, providing opportunities for students well into the future.

Please take some time to consider these options. If you have any questions or would like more information about possibly endowing a major gift, please call me at 212.337.7539. Thank you again from the entire Xavier High School Community for your continued generosity and support.

We are forever grateful to you.

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Planned Giving is important to Xavier High School

Creating an endowed gift will ensure that your financial

A New Tax-Saving Opportunity for

support and Xavier last forever. An endowed gift is a dona-

Donors aged 701⁄2 or Older!

tion that is maintained by Xavier High School in perpetuity.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), signed into law

The principal amount will always remain intact because only

on August 17, 2006, is the most sweeping pension legislation

a fraction of the fund is used each year by our school for the

in over 30 years and includes a number of significant tax

purposes you indicate. The other portion remains untouched

incentives to enhance and protect retirement savings for

to help raise the endowment and optimistically keep pace

millions of Americans. The Pensions Protections Act of 2006

with inflation. There is something magical about this kind of

encourages donors who are 701⁄2 or older to financially

gift, because decades from now your endowment will pro-

support charitable organizations across the United States.

vide similar benefits as they were when you created it.

Under the new law, you can make a lifetime gift using funds from your individual retirement account (IRA) without

Planned Giving that works for you: Income-Producing Plans: Charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts.

any undesirable tax effects. The new law does not require

Charitable Lead Trusts: Support Xavier now and still leave assets to your heirs.

the gift. This helps you, the donor, because prior to passing

Bequests: Make a gift by will.

taxes than they would have, had they not made a gift.

Life Insurance: Use a life insurance policy to make a substantial gift.

Letter of Intent: To let us know if you have already provided for Xavier in your estate plan.

you to report any amount taken from your IRA as taxable income, nor do you need to take a charitable deduction for this law some donors had been forced to pay more income Now you can make your gift while you are living and be able to watch the benefits Xavier High School students receive from your generosity. Your IRA gift can be made simply, without tax complications, and you can be a witness to your generosity.

Requirement:

Contact info Loual Puliafito ’00 Advancement Officer (212) 924-7900 x.1611 or puliafitol@xavierhs.org

•

You are age 701⁄2 or older

•

The gift is not larger than $100,000

•

The gift is made before December 31, 2007

•

You transfer funds directly from an IRA or Rollover IRA

•

You make the gift to a public charity

Golf Outing May 22, 2007 Baccalaureate Mass and Dinner June 2, 2007 Senior Breakfast June 5, 2007 Graduation June 7, 2007 Alumni Farewell to Xavier Faculty Legends Reception June 8, 2007 Volunteer Reception June 14, 2007 Xavier Society and Loyola Associates Reception September 19, 2007 President’s Reception September 26, 2007 President’s Dinner October 4, 2007 Parent’s Phonathon October 15-18, 2007

Alumnews Calendar

Xavier High School Open House October 27, 2007 Career Day November 9, 2007 Young Alumni Luncheon and Rally November 21, 2007

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