Xavier Magazine: Summer 2024

THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI, PARENTS, AND FRIENDS OF XAVIER HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER 2024

REIMAGINING THE PANTHEON

Jamil Batiz ’25 as Dionysis welcomes a bewildered Percy Jackson, played by Chad Theodore Herry ’25, to Camp Half Blood in the Xavier Dramatics Society’s spring musical production of The Lightning Thief—a contemporary take on the adventures of ancient Greek demigods and their celestial parents.

Bearing Witness

All of Xavier’s a Stage 28. Shaping Ignatian Leaders

34. To Act Justly in Service of Others

38. Sons of Xavier

56. Back Story

Xavier’s Mission

Founded in 1847, Xavier High School is an academically rigorous, Catholic, Jesuit, college preparatory school in New York City that educates intelligent, motivated young men of diverse backgrounds and means. Xavier teaches students to take responsibility for their lives, to lead with integrity, to act justly in service of others, to pursue excellence in every endeavor and to deepen their relationship with God. Ultimately, Xavier forms young men who will go forth to transform the world for God’s greater glory.

On the Cover

English Department Chair Aidan Byrne and Andre Patin ’26 don Elizabethan garb for Xavier’s first-ever Shakespeare Festival.

Xavier High School

Jack Raslowsky P’16

President

Kim Smith

Headmaster

Shawna Gallagher Vega, APR

Vice President for Communications and Marketing

Editor, Xavier Magazine

Contributors

Ralph Dinielli

Eric Krebs ’17

Brian McCabe P’23

Fr. Daniel Murphy ’65

Michael O’Brien ’19

David Orlando ’17

Jennifer Reeder

Astrea Slezak

Cynthia Tavlin

Photography

Dan Bassini

Maksym Boldashev

Harisch Studios

Michael Marmora

Anna Spiridonova

Mark Wyville

Design

Erbach Communications Group

How to Reach Us

Xavier Magazine

30 West 16th Street

New York, NY 10011

Email: news@xavierhs.org

Class Notes: classnotes@xavierhs.org

SUMMER 2024

The English department’s Shakespeare bust kept a watchful eye over this April’s Shakespeare Festival.

The Hope That Is Xavier

Dear Sons of Xavier, Parents and Friends:

There is a vibrancy to school life, a breadth and depth, which has always been energizing for me, “like shining from shook foil.” This spring has been especially so. Excellent reunions. A moving class gift from the Class of ’74 in honor of a fallen brother on the occasion of their 50th reunion. Wonderful productions of The Lightning Thief, Bird and Food for the Soul. Excellent band concerts. Regimental and Block X awards, and athletics

across the five boroughs. These are all signs of goodness, signs of hope, signs of the grandeur of God lived out in the lives of our students, faculty and families. This magazine shares with you those signs: signs of goodness, hope and God’s grandeur.

I long ago lost count of the great days at Xavier. April 30, 2024, the day of our Shakespeare Festival, quickly made its way to my “great days” list: Seeing the English department walking the halls in their Elizabethan garb, feeling a palpable energy in and around Keenan Commons as everyone from our youngest freshman to our most senior senior celebrated the Bard, and watching the entire community drawn into Shakespeare in new and wonderful ways by insightful interpretation, fine acting, excellent live performances, and films that will stand the test of time. It was the life of the mind on full display wrestling with text and exploring good and evil, life and death, duty and honor, and all things human. (I’m delighted you can scan the QR code on page 27 to experience our Shakespeare Festival yourself.)

The Holocaust Studies program is one more example of the life of the mind being alive and well in our students shaping their hearts, minds and souls. When the program launched with the screening of Conspiracy on January 5, our post-film conversation could have continued into the night. It was a good sign. Throughout the semester, in groups large and small, our conversations about the Holocaust were insightful and deep with great respect for the sacredness of our work. To hear students making connections between Night (Elie Wiesel), Man’s Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl) and The Plague (Albert Camus) was an affirmation of their thoughtfulness and the seriousness of purpose with which our students entered this program. Seventy-two students were accepted into the Holocaust Studies program, the brainchild of Tom Maher ’80. Fourteen took part in the inaugural study trip to Poland. Michael O’Brien ’19 leads you through that grace-filled trip.

Eric Krebs ’17 opens the door to the Seminars in Ignatian Leadership. One of the great strengths of the Seminars is that they take an expansive view of leadership. The program recognizes that leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and leadership happens in the classroom, the retreat house, the field of competition and beyond. Yet at Xavier, all good leadership must be grounded in our

identity and mission as a work of the Society of Jesus, an identity and mission which are inseparable from the life, death, resurrection and ministry of Jesus Christ. Through the years our Seminars participants have been many and varied, united in their commitment to enter more deeply into our identity and mission to better serve the God who loves us. The Seminars have been one of many programs developed by the Jesuit Schools Network and the Jesuit provincial offices to ensure that the lay faculty and administrators leading Jesuit schools into the future are anchored in the history, tradition and spirituality of St. Ignatius and the Jesuits. Beyond these three in-depth stories, news from 16th Street, stories of community service and vocation, tributes, milestones and updates are all waiting to be explored.

On May 9, Pope Francis established Jubilee Year 2025 with the promulgation of the bull, Spes non confundit, Hope does not disappoint. It is a document worth reading. Francis writes, “We are called to be tangible signs of hope for our brothers and sisters who experience hardship of any kind.” He notes, “Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.” He continues, “In addition to finding hope in God’s grace…we are also called to discover hope in the signs of the times that the Lord gives us.”

These are complicated days, and as I’ve often said before in these pages, we’ve known complicated days before. The October 7 attacks on Israel, the Israel-Hamas war, war in Ukraine, violent strife in Haiti, partisanship near and far. In these complicated days, we need signs of hope. I believe this magazine is such a sign, capturing the hope that is Xavier. You will encounter young men and their teachers doing what they are called to do, learning and teaching with integrity, with respect for one another, with respect for rules and in a culture of accountability and care. Day in and day out they do so so we can send our students forth to read the signs of the times, to be signs of hope, and to transform the world for God’s greater glory. It is a blessing to share this work with you.

As I was finishing this letter, I joined with the Jesuit brothers, friends and family of Fr. Pat Sullivan, S.J., Xavier’s 30th president, at his wake and funeral at Murray-Weigel Hall in the Bronx. I carried with me the memories of many who wrote me after Pat’s death.

In these complicated days, we need signs of hope. I believe this magazine is such a sign, capturing the hope that is Xavier. You will encounter young men and their teachers doing what they are called to do, learning and teaching with integrity, with respect for one another, with respect for rules and in a culture of accountability and care.

Memories of an outstanding and demanding freshman English teacher; a freshman football moderator with high expectations for behavior on the bus (and an effective, if surprising, way of communicating those expectations); a president whose pastoral care made things a little easier for a student who lost his dad; a president who ensured that his staff had the resources needed to succeed, and so many others. After Pat’s funeral I joined with hundreds in Rockaway to pay respects to Nan McManus P’20. The McManus family—Nan†, Marty, Mikey ’20 and Annie— embrace and bless Xavier by their lives. We spend a lot of time at wakes and funerals for the Xavier community and consider it a sacred honor to pay our respects, join in prayer and remember the grace of God in everyone God calls home. We hold Pat and the Sullivans, Nan and the McManuses, and all our departed alumni and their families in our prayers. May their memories be a blessing. This fall’s Annual Report will feature a longer tribute to Fr. Sullivan.

We hope to see you on the road this summer with our friends George and Joanie Clark P’16 ’24 in Rockaway, Rob ’93 and Colleen Thorburn on the Jersey Shore, and Steve ’75 and Nancy Vincent in Quogue.

Happy reading. Be assured of my prayers.

Jack

Raslowsky P’16 President

News from 16th Street

The End of an Era for Xavier Football

On January 26, Chris Stevens ’83 gathered the varsity football team for a watershed announcement. After 32 years coaching the Knights, including 22 years as varsity head coach, he had made the decision to step down to spend more time with his family. During his storied career on the gridiron, Stevens—the winningest coach in Xavier football history—led the Knights to four Catholic High School Football League championships and five division titles. Most importantly, he served as a role model for young men both on and off the field.

Hosts of friends and former players (including the 2023 varsity football team, seen above) gathered in the gym to celebrate Stevens’ legacy exactly three months later, on April 26. In his remarks, President Jack Raslowsky recalled countless renditions of “Sons of Xavier” sung after football games, a metaphor for Stevens’ leadership.

“Stand so all the world can see. So the world can see what is good and right by our hard work, our dedication, and our values. So they can see it on the field and off. Before the games and after. In person and on social media. Do the right thing,” Raslowsky said. “Chris has stood so all the world can see, and it has been, is, and will be a blessing for us all.”

“It has been a great honor to have played a part in helping to create life-changing experiences through football and beyond for hosts of Xavier men,” Stevens told the crowd. “How many people in the world get this level of satisfaction and affectionate affirmation for having achieved their professional life’s goals? I am indeed the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THE APRIL 26 CELEBRATION, TURN TO PAGE 48.

News and Notes

Forty-five students and 11 teachers shaved their heads to benefit childhood cancer research on February 27. Organized by the Student Leadership Council, the event raised $35,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the top charitable funder of research grants related to childhood cancer. On March 12, students who participated in Xavier’s St. Baldrick’s fundraiser were invited to ring the closing bell at NASDAQ.

RON ROBINSON DEBUTS HIS FIRST OPERA

Director of Music Ron Robinson debuted his first opera, the autobiographical Unbroken, at the Opera Theater of Saint Louis on March 14. Headmaster Kim Smith, Dean of Faculty Evan Bernstein ’04, and Fine Arts Department Chair Nicole DiMarco traveled to support Robinson, a St. Louis native, at the event. Steve Callahan of Broadway World wrote that Robinson and librettist J. Mae Barizo “give us a story so gentle, so beautiful, so filled with a rich, detailed love! We become part of that family. It’s very like Thornton Wilder’s Our Town in its graceful, poetic presentation of how we humans deal with time, and loss, and the passing of wisdom and fortitude from generation to generation.”

Led by Cadet Colonel Elliot Sternberg ’24 and his senior staff, the Xavier Regiment and members of the Blue Night Band marched up Fifth Avenue during the 263rd New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16. They were accompanied by Vice President for Advancement Shane Lavin ’03, who served as the Regiment’s Executive Officer during his senior year on 16th Street.

Rochester Institute of Technology honored Michael Chiafulio P’23 ’27 at its Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar Awards ceremony on March 21. Martin Marraccino ’20, one of this year’s scholars, selected Chiafulio as the most inspiring teacher from his educational journey. “Mr. Chiafulio provided me with a lot of inspiration by teaching unique classes that fostered my interests in high school. However, my interest in robotics and even film editing didn’t stop after I left Xavier,”

1. Frank Ancona ’25 gets his head shaved for charity at Xavier’s St. Baldrick’s fundraiser. 2. Dean Domingo ’25 (background), next year’s Cadet Colonel, and Will Diouf ’25, who will serve as a battalion commander, represent Xavier at the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

JOE

INTO NEW YORK STATE BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

On March 17, the Basketball Coaches Association of New York inducted longtime Xavier basketball coach Joe McGrane P’20 into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame. McGrane was previously inducted into the Catholic High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2015. In his 30 years coaching Xavier basketball, McGrane has led Sons of Xavier to win 425 games and sent more than 55 student-athletes to play at the collegiate level, with three making it to the pros. “Joe deserves all the recognition he is due as he has sacrificed a tremendous amount of time and effort to help our student-athletes become better on and off the court,” said Director of Athletics Dominic DeFalco ’10. “Joe serves as a great role model for us younger coaches at Xavier, and we are incredibly grateful for all that he does.”

Marraccino wrote. “That robotics class sparked my passion for automation and inevitably led me toward my career path.”

Mike Fernandez ’72, chairman of MBF Healthcare Partners, visited 16th Street on March 1. He spoke with the junior class in Keenan Commons of Fernandez-Duminuco Hall, for which he served as principal donor, and then enjoyed brunch and conversation with student leaders in Cook Library.

The Xavier Dramatics Society staged its spring musical, Percy Jackson’s The Lightning Thief, in Keenan Commons

from March 22-24. English teacher Margaret Gonzalez P’24, Connor Siemer ’14, and Julien Mondjii-Adlerberg ’23 guest-starred in the production.

Art teacher Denise Iacovone and her husband, former music teacher Rocco Iacovone ’62, were invited to Messina, Italy, to premiere new works of Rocco’s at the Filarmonica Laudamo during Xavier’s Easter break. It was a follow-up to their 2017 visit, when they presented a oneweek workshop series at the Filarmonica as American improvisors in music and art. During this trip, Rocco and his Rocco John

Sicilian Quartet presented four concerts (drawing from his “American Songbook in Sicily”), conducted a recording session, and presented an art and music workshop with Denise. Denise also live-painted music at each of Rocco’s concerts.

On April 25, President Jack Raslowsky moderated Cristo Rey New York High School’s Founders Panel in celebration of the school’s 20th anniversary. The panel included Cristo Rey’s founding president (and former Xavier trustee) Joe Parkes, S.J.; founding principal Bill Ford, who previously served as Xavier’s Special

1. Martin Marraccino ’20 and Michael Chiafulio P’23 ’27 at the Rochester Institute of Technology Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar Awards. 2. Mike Fernandez ’72 speaks to the junior class.

MCGRANE P’20 INDUCTED

Representing his mother’s native Grenada, D’Angelo Brown ’25 took home the silver medal in the 800-meter race at the CARIFTA Games, a Caribbean track and field competition, on April 1. He ran a school record 1:52.81 in the 800 meters and set another school record in the 1500-meter race, in which he took fifth place. Athletes from more than 25 nations were represented at the three-day meet, which was held at Kirani James National Stadium in Saint George’s, the capital of Grenada.

Assistant to the President and COVID-19 Response Coordinator; and founding board chair Madeline Lacovara, wife of Philip Lacovara ’60. Raslowsky is a member of Cristo Rey New York’s Board of Trustees.

Director of Ignatian Service Programs

Dr. Katie McCann successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, “Inclusive Leadership at Jesuit Secondary Schools in the Jesuit Schools Network,” on May 2. She earned her Ph.D. in educational leadership administration and policy from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education, where she was part of the church and

non-public school leadership program.

On May 7, the Xavier community gathered to recognize outstanding student achievements at the Block X Awards—a school tradition since 1941. The top two award winners, Michael Mioduszewski ’24 and Benicio Mancebo ’24, won the Bernard M. Moynahan Award (for the outstanding scholar-athlete) and the Rev. Edward J. Spinello, S.J. Award (for outstanding participation in cocurricular activities), respectively. After the Block X Awards, seniors continuing their athletic careers in college celebrated together. They include Ryan Calvo ’24

(rugby, Sacred Heart University), Joshua Cecutti ’24 (soccer, Sarah Lawrence College), Ratu Delano Navoti ’24 (football, Villanova University), Tomas Diaz ’24 (football, Bates College), Chris Killen ’24 (rugby, University of Alabama), Jude LaRocca ’24 (football, SUNY Maritime), Padraig Long ’24 (rugby, University College Dublin), Benny Loria ’24 (rugby, Indiana University), Mehdi Merah ’24 (rugby, St. Bonaventure University), Brendan Meyers ’24 (rugby, Loyola University Maryland), Eoin McBride ’24 (rugby, University of Delaware), Michael Mioduszewski ’24 (rugby, University of Notre Dame), Ansar Omarov ’24 (wrestling,

3. Rocco ’62 and Denise Iacovone. 4. Jack Raslowsky, left, moderates the Cristo Rey New York Founders Panel.

4.

D’ANGELO BROWN ’25 WINS SILVER MEDAL IN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

3.

#SONSOFXAVIER

SUNY Cortland), Aidan Smith ’24 (rugby, Loyola University Maryland), Jonathan Taylor ’24 (cross country/track, St. Olaf College), Emir Yuksel ’24 (rugby, Indiana University), and Alexander Zagoreos ’24 (rugby, University of Vermont).

On May 18, Xavier robotics students once again dominated the annual New York/ New Jersey Regional Autonomous Botball

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AMOR TOWLES VISITS XAVIER

Novelist Amor Towles, the New York Times bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow, Rules of Civility, and The Lincoln Highway, visited Xavier on May 21. English teacher Una Hughes invited him after her American Literature students read A Gentleman in Moscow. Christopher Messieha ’25 hosted a discussion with Towles in Keenan Commons while Nicholas Borruso ’25 facilitated audience questions. “The best advice [for aspiring writers] is to read, write, repeat,” Towles told students. “That’s true of all the greats—they were all big students.”

Robotics Tournament. Jack Guastella ’24, Keanu Lao ’24, Francesco Mazzeo ’24, Benicio Mancebo ’24, Matt Verrengia ’24, and Adam Hernandez ’24 won first place overall, first place in the seeding round, first place in the head-to-head round, and first place-judges’ choice. They achieved the top scores in the United States this year, and the third-highest and fourthhighest scores in the world. A team of

juniors composed of Dominic Crowley ’25, Thomas Guenther ’25, Ryan Pena ’25, Liam West ’25, and Ben White ’25 took home second place overall, second place in the seeding round, and second place in the head-to-head round. “I’m so proud of the efforts of these young men to represent Xavier in something so difficult and shine so brightly,” said their teacher, Michael Chiafulio P’23 ’27.

1. Michael Mioduszewski ’24, winner of the Moynahan Award, and Benicio Mancebo ’24, winner of the Spinello Award, with Headmaster Kim Smith. 2. Dr. Katie McCann celebrates her Fordham graduation with her family. 3. Xavier student-athletes who signed to play at the collegiate level celebrate together after the Block X Awards.

4. Xavier robotics students celebrate their multiple victories at the New York/New Jersey Regional Autonomous Botball Tournament.

Embracing

Over the years, Xavier has benefited from the presence of talented, energetic young Jesuits in formation on 16th Street. This year, David Said, S.J. joined that long list of influential regents when he arrived to teach freshman math and religion.

Said first stepped foot on 16th Street as a rising eighth grader participating in a summer sports camp, and he later taught for the Higher Achievement Program during the summer between his junior and senior years at Georgetown University. His older brother, Anton Said ’11, is an alumnus, deepening his relationship with Xavier.

The Saids grew up between Manhattan and Malta, where both of their parents were born and where they spent their summers. With religion deeply ingrained in Maltese culture, David Said felt a sense of tradition that differed from the ways in which he practiced his faith in New York.

“Back in New York, it was more of what I described as a ‘cradle Catholic’ upbringing, where the extent of practicing your faith is going to Mass on Sundays and praying before meals or before bed,” he said.

Growing up, Said wanted to be a pediatrician. He was influenced by various Jesuits at Regis High School and Georgetown, but he did not believe he fit the mold of a priest.

During his first two years at Georgetown, Said engrossed himself in his pre-med studies. Then, in 2015, he went to see Pope Francis speak on the front lawn of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. He began to

His Vocation

By ASTREA SLEZAK

take his faith more seriously—and he largely credits Pope Francis’s speech for that.

“Pope Francis uses this word ‘encounter’ a lot. Meaning when you’re with somebody, encounter them, be in their presence,” Said explained. “It just hit me in a different way.”

From there, Said began to spend more time in church. One day, as he sat in Georgetown’s chapel, he thought to himself, “I know Pope Francis is a Jesuit. He seems to be living a full and joyful life. I know these Jesuits who I had as teachers live this full and joyful life. Why am I thinking this way? Being a Jesuit might be cool.”

Said decided to visit a Jesuit on campus who had been the chaplain of his freshman dorm the year prior.

“He said to slow down. Because I asked him all these questions like, ‘I don’t know if this is real or not, I don’t know if I’m making this up,’ and he said, ‘Slow down, be a college student, but still take this seriously.’ And that’s what I did,” Said remembered.

He decided then to join a discernment group run by two Jesuits on Georgetown’s campus. “We gathered about once a month for Mass, dinner, and conversation with a different guest Jesuit speaker each time,” Said recalled.

Through his experiences in the group, Said confirmed his desire to join the Society of Jesus. He graduated in May 2018 and entered the Jesuits that August.

For his first two years in the Society, Said was based in Syracuse. He also traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he worked at a food pantry, and Buffalo, New York, where

he taught at a Nativity-model school.

During another placement, Said followed in the footsteps of every Jesuit since St. Ignatius when he served as an orderly—in Said’s case, working with terminally ill patients at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. He spoke to patients, listened to their stories, and prayed with them.

“No matter what happens in your life, it’s always possible to have gratitude.”

—David Said, S.J.

Said was deeply moved by one patient, Teresa, an older woman from the Bronx. The young Jesuit spoke to her about New York— topics ranging from growing up in the city to their favorite pizzerias. They created a strong bond during these conversations.

Two weeks before the end of his time at Calvary, Said let Teresa know he would soon depart. He continued to remind her as the days ticked by.

“It was really tough saying goodbye to people, but it was particularly challenging to say goodbye to her,” Said remembered. “I knew it would be the last time I saw her, and I had been dreading that moment.”

He will never forget what she said to him on his last day at Calvary. “She said, ‘Oh, wow. … And to think that, had I not gotten sick, I would have never met you.’” He froze.

“I went back to the locker room to change out of my scrubs and sat there thinking, what a special person. So selfless, kind, and loving

to be able to say that to someone who was pretty much a stranger. … It’s an example that no matter what happens in your life, it’s always possible to have gratitude.”

After completing his novitiate, Said professed First Vows and moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to study philosophy and theology for three years.

“In the summers, I did a lot of international experiments,” he said. “I was in the Dominican Republic for a summer teaching religion in Spanish. And then I was on the Mexico-U.S. border, El Paso, and Ciudad Juarez working with migrant refugees.”

Since arriving at Xavier last fall, Said has immersed himself in school life, leading a Kairos retreat and a service reflection group for seniors. He leads communion services during community periods and gives reflections during occasional community period Masses. Said is also a co-moderator of the birding team and loves traveling to support students at athletic events, ranging from soccer and football to basketball and rugby.

“I feel like I’ve been, in a way, thrown into teaching. But it’s been a really good thing,” Said shared. “I was joking with my freshmen when I first got here, saying, you’re new, you’re freshmen, and I’m like a freshman, too. I am also new.”

“Being at a high school, there’s always so much going on, in a good way,” he continued. “There are so many opportunities to dive in and get involved. And I definitely want to expand my involvement, especially in the next one to two years that I am here.”

A

DAY IN THE LIFE:

Campus Ministry

As students trickle into Campus Ministry’s spacious first-floor home on April 10, a jam-packed day awaits. Director of Campus Ministry Kaija DeWitt-Allen and her team—all of whom teach religion as well—juggle retreat meetings, classes and lesson plans, check-ins with students, and even welcoming incoming families.

Campus minister Pablo Talavera leads a morning meeting with his Kairos retreat team as the group prepares for the last Kairos of the year, which departs in two weeks. Later that afternoon, DeWitt-Allen leads a meeting with a group of seniors participating in that weekend’s Wilderness Retreat.

“Retreat directors and senior retreat leaders meet frequently in preparation for each retreat. Those meetings are there to work on the practical and logistical elements,” said DeWitt-Allen. “But we meet also to build a community of faith and trust so that we can accompany our students on their experience of God’s love for them. The more time teams spend together, the more intentional the accompaniment.”

Director of Ignatian Service Programs Dr. Katie McCann plans for two other upcoming events—the schoolwide Service Assembly on April 12 and a Xavier Mission service opportunity for incoming families on April 14. Student speakers for the Service Assembly check in with her, as do seniors updating her on their senior Christian service placements. Campus minister Jim Hederman, S.J., a doctor by training, plans a student event of his own—a trip to Long Island’s Fusion Anatomy Lab, where the Medical Science Club will meet with Dr. Andrew Merola ’08—and prepares to lead an online Rosary for Xavier students and their families that evening.

DeWitt-Allen notes that the Campus Ministry team is particularly grateful for their sprawling space—renovated in summer 2023—and the myriad ways they’re able to engage with it: “Our new office gives us both the space and the technology to better minister to our students.”

Bearing

Old Town, Warsaw

Witness

By MICHAEL O’BRIEN ’19

Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp operated by the Nazis during World War II. Before the Soviet Red Army reached its gates, more than 1 million people were put to death there, part of the total of 6 million Jews exterminated by the Nazi regime.

The harrowing, visceral history of Auschwitz had a deep effect on Tom Maher ’80, who visited the concentration camp for the first time with his son Peter, his brother-in-law Steve, and his nephew Stephen in the spring of 2019.

“That trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau resonated deeply within me and has made me uneasy and uncomfortable ever since thinking about this terrible tragedy, the worst crime committed against humanity,” Maher recalled.

Soon Maher came to grips with the fact that while Auschwitz shut down nearly 80 years ago, anti-Semitism is still rampant—not just overseas, but here in our country as well.

A few years after his 2019 trip, Maher read a Boston Globe story about swastikas being posted on the lawn of a family in suburban Massachusetts, and he felt moved to act.

“I said to myself, ‘This cannot be happening in our country. Do people know what they are doing and the significance of what they are doing? This is so wrong.’ I needed to do something. But what?” Maher initially wondered.

That something ended up being the idea to fund a Holocaust Studies program at one of his alma maters.

While Maher studied modern European history at the College of the Holy Cross, where he graduated in 1984, he thought that most college students would already have an informed grasp on the Holocaust and its atrocities. This led him to think of Xavier as a place where he could lend a hand in educating youth on this dark but necessary-to-understand piece of history.

“Xavier, which had a profound effect on me as a student, was the perfect place to consider for implementing a Holocaust educational program, including onthe-ground learning in Europe. Perhaps, I thought, we could bring students to Poland, similar to my experience a few years earlier, and help build understanding and knowledge about what happened and how it applies to our world today,” Maher said.

Xavier President Jack Raslowsky clearly recalled his initial conversation with Maher about the potential of the program. “It was last January that I got a call from Mr. Maher, and he said, ‘Jack, I have an idea that I want to run by you, and if you think it’s a good idea, let’s pursue it.’”

In their first several talks about the possibility of implementing a Holocaust Studies co-curricular program at Xavier, Maher pointed both to his experience visiting Auschwitz and the tenor of Russian discourse surrounding its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

“He heard, I think rightfully so, echoes of World War II,” Raslowsky reflected. “He was disturbed by the anti-Semitism that was often playing out in the way people, particularly the Russians and other commentators, were speaking about the war, and that worried him.”

And then came the offer: If Xavier was interested, Maher and his wife, Nancy, would be happy to fund a program both studying the Holocaust and allowing students the chance to visit Holocaust sites in person, ultimately bringing that experience back to Xavier. Raslowsky was fully on board from the beginning.

“I was not surprised at all at Xavier’s willingness to proceed with this program, especially when I connected with Jack about my initial vision for it. Even in our first call he said, ‘I’m in!’” Maher recalled. “Jack is so thoughtful and knowledgeable, yet at the same time very innovative and ready to expand horizons.”

Raslowsky isn’t the only member of the Xavier faculty and staff to participate in the program. Once the seeds were planted, Director of Annual and Planned Giving Brian McCabe P’23 and Religion Department Chair Michael Aprea ’06 were tapped to be involved as well. In April and May 2023, a full year before making the same trip with students, Maher, Raslowsky, McCabe, and Aprea set off to Poland for a pilot trip marked by meticulous planning.

“This was not going to be a sort of trip that you can plug and play, and book through a travel agent,” McCabe said. “We were crafting every aspect of the experience, from booking our own hotels and travel to figuring out what museums we wanted to visit to working directly with tour guides who are going to take us on walking tours of cities. So I was buttoning up all the

Nożyk Synagogue, Warsaw

Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, Warsaw

details, particularly one of the hardest details, which was deciding who was going to be able to go, because we had many more students who applied than we could take.”

Once it was finally time to publicize the trip to the student body in November 2023, Raslowsky wrote that it presented “a wonderful opportunity for students to explore the Holocaust in greater depth.”

To McCabe’s point, the co-curricular program drew great interest. While there were only 14 spots available for the trip to Poland, 78 students applied.

Every student who expressed interest in the co-curricular program had the opportunity to participate in a robust set of domestic activities, however—attending plays and movie screenings related to the Holocaust, listening to outside speakers on the topics of the Holocaust and antiSemitism, and visiting sites like Temple Emanu-El and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The number of students interested in learning about such a difficult moment in history was striking to Aprea, and it helped affirm his decision to educate young men at Xavier.

“Seeing the students on this trip essentially allowed me to see that we do have students who are very open to growth, new experiences, and sometimes even to difficult conversations,” Aprea

“ Xavier, which had a profound effect on me as a student, was the perfect place to consider for implementing a Holocaust educational program, including on-the-ground learning in Europe.”

—Tom Maher ’80

said. “They had such a willingness to throw themselves into those difficult conversations. I think that’s something that shouldn’t be missed with respect to what we experienced as adults on the trip.”

With a jam-packed itinerary, Raslowsky, McCabe, Aprea, Maher, Fr. Dan Murphy ’65, and a group of 14 students flew to Warsaw on March 15 to absorb Holocaust and Polish history. Their visits included the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the Warsaw Rising Museum, and a guided walking tour of the Old Town district and Ghetto Wall.

Joseph Domenico ’27 remarked on how he learned some Polish in his spare time before arriving in Warsaw, as it’s his belief that “one should fully immerse oneself in the culture of a country they are visiting,” another sign of the deep curiosity students involved with the program display.

A particularly poignant part of the itinerary in Warsaw was a visit to Nożyk Synagogue, the only surviving Jewish house of prayer in the city. Although it was damaged in an air raid during World War II, the perseverance of the Jewish community in the city has ensured that this hallowed building functions to this day.

The group also visited a Catholic house of worship, All Saints Church, which became a place of shelter for Jews in Warsaw escaping capture from the Nazis, emphasizing the importance of interfaith cooperation and empathy in the name of the greater good.

Gabriel Krauze ’26 referred to Warsaw as a “magical city rich with culture and history, despite it being destroyed and rebuilt multiple times,” a testament to both the resilience of the city and the Jewish people who inhabited it during World War II.

Aprea further recognized this sense of resilience that the students were beginning to notice as well. “As atrocious as this event was, there still is a vibrant Jewish community there in Poland,” he said. “And there was a greater sense of appreciation for the resilience of the human spirit.”

After their time in Warsaw came to an end, the group traveled to Krakow, the closest major city to the site of Auschwitz.

Before visiting the concentration camp, the group had the opportunity to visit the Jewish Community Center of Krakow, where

Nożyk Synagogue, Warsaw

students learned from college-aged Jewish American volunteers on a wealth of topics. McCabe referred to it as an experience that “helped us understand the context of life for Jewish people in Poland from the time after the Holocaust through the present day.”

Walking through Auschwitz’s grounds and seeing this sign, Henry Byrne ’26 felt a particularly strong sense of emotion.

“How lucky was I to walk into this camp, under the ‘Arbeit macht frei’ sign, just as millions of others did, and simply walk

Every student who expressed interest in the cocurricular program had the opportunity to participate in a robust set of domestic activities—attending plays and movie screenings related to the Holocaust, listening to outside speakers on the topics of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism, and visiting Temple Emanu-El and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The group also paid visits to the Empty Chairs Exhibit in Ghetto Heroes Square, a sobering visual installation that pays homage to Jews in Krakow slain by the Nazis, in addition to Oskar Schindler’s Factory Museum, the real-life factory owned and operated by its namesake, who was made famous by Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.

Above Auschwitz’s gates reads a sign that says “Arbeit macht frei,” an attempt at brainwashing used by the Nazis that translates to “Work sets you free.”

out. It was the birthplace of the worst mass genocide in human history, and I simply left. I didn’t know how to feel. Lucky, but almost guilty—why do I get to leave but so many didn’t? This moment will stay with me for the rest of my life,” he said.

The students’ experiences at Auschwitz sparked a desire to commit themselves to preventing anti-Semitism from spreading wherever it may arise. As the Anti-Defamation League has reported, there was a 140 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents, including

harassment, vandalism, and assault, across the United States from 2022 to 2023—a startling figure that shows anti-Semitism is indeed an epidemic to be confronted.

Several of the students noted that those they need to grapple with aren’t necessarily people who are overtly hateful; instead, they want to change the hearts of those who are filled with indifference.

“Many people have no relationship to the issue,” Owen Cahill ’25 remarked. “This is important when trying to educate people, because it is hard to force someone to pay attention to something they care nothing about. Instead of trying to get people to share a certain opinion, it is more important that I am able to inform people just a little bit and maybe inspire them to take up their own interest in the fight against anti-Semitism.”

The trip also presented itself as an opportunity for some of the students to connect with a part of their family’s history.

“My family was not Jewish and was not persecuted in that regard, but the Nazis ransacked my grandfather’s house in Croatia and he recalls some of their family being shot dead,” Domenico noted. “I wanted to understand the more personal aspect of the Holocaust. To learn what people like my grandfather experienced.”

For some, it was a chance to revisit

Auschwitz Jan Karski Bench, Krakow

a country with which they have familial connections.

“This was not my first time visiting Poland. My grandfather was born in Poland and my dad had lived there for a year, so I had visited previously to meet family and experience some of my family’s culture,” Krauze said.

“ How lucky was I to walk into this camp, under the ‘Arbeit macht frei ’ sign, just as millions of others did, and simply walk out. It was the birthplace of the worst mass genocide in human history, and I simply left. I didn’t know how to feel. Lucky, but almost guilty—why do I get to leave but so many didn’t? This moment will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

Tully continued. “Throughout this process, we have been met with so many difficult conversations ... so although we continue to seek justice, much of what we find are just questions that cannot be answered. It may only be 14 of us, but when we spread our experiences, a ripple effect can motivate more people to study this in the future. This is my goal for this program on a larger scale.”

This trip is only the beginning of Xavier’s commitment to the sustainable development of the Holocaust Studies program. In late February, Raslowsky informed Xavier faculty and staff that Tom and Nancy Maher had generously agreed to fund summer faculty development related to the Holocaust in the form of grants up to $10,000. “The aim is to deepen insight and understanding to more effectively engage students in their study of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism,” he said.

A second trip to Poland is scheduled

for this October. “An entirely new group of 14 students will journey to Warsaw and Krakow as scholars in the Holocaust Studies program,” McCabe said. “Although the participants will change, the itinerary will remain similar to the initial trip. Likewise, the larger domestic portion of the program is set to expand in dynamic fashion with more students engaged in reading, discussions, local excursions, and events. I am excited to see how the students build upon the strong foundation that has been established and learn from the knowledge, reflections, and insights they share with one another.”

“As we go forward, it will be inspiring to watch students put their new understandings into action for the betterment of others and the world they live in,” McCabe continued. “The potential is limitless and this work is as relevant as ever. I am grateful to be a part of it.”

After having the opportunity to take part in such a transformative trip, this group of inspired students is now asking themselves where to go from here, according to John Tully ’26: “We are trying to figure out the big question of ‘What do we do now?’”

“In Poland, we visited the ghettos in Warsaw and Krakow; we visited a Jewish synagogue; and, of course, we visited the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau. However, throughout the trip, I have been eager to figure out the next step in this process. We can visit all of these horrible places and pray for those who were affected by this whole system, but with all of these horrible things happening in our world, what can we, as young students, even do?”

—Henry Byrne ’26 Tempel

All of Xavier’s

a Stage

How do you get students excited about reading and interpreting Shakespeare? Teach it through performance. The story of the First Annual Shakespeare Festival at Xavier, told in five acts.

By CYNTHIA TAVLIN

t was a few minutes before third period and Andre Patin ’26 was pacing in Keenan Commons. “Why are there so many people here?” he muttered to no one in particular as students filled the seats. Donning a robe and crown, Patin was about to perform one of the most famous soliloquies from Macbeth before a crowd of students and faculty. “I’m not a nervous person but with that many people, it’s still a little bit scary,” Patin recounted after his performance drew a large round of applause. “I’m not an actor, but I stepped out of my comfort zone. It felt like an accomplishment in my Xavier career to do something I wouldn’t normally do.”

Patin was one of 910 Sons of Xavier who tried something new this spring thanks to the effort and collaboration of their English teachers. On April 30, Xavier High School held its First Annual

Shakespeare Festival, the culminating event in a three-month study that engaged the entire school in language, writing, and performance to deepen students’ appreciation and understanding of the works of William Shakespeare. Like most of the Bard’s plays, the story of how the schoolwide festival came to be—and its impact on teaching and learning—is best told in five acts.

ACT I: HATCHING AN AMBITIOUS IDEA

At the first faculty meeting of the academic year, the 11-member English department rallied behind a plot to establish a Shakespeare Festival at Xavier. From the start, the plan was ambitious because the goal was to engage every Son of Xavier in the project. “We knew we wanted all the kids to be involved,” said English Department Chair Aidan Byrne. “We also knew there would be a

Previous page: Xavier educators heighten the Shakespeare Festival experience with their Elizabethan attire. Above: Students in Dread, Angst, and the Battle Against Oblivion, a senior English elective, participate in an Acting Company workshop.

performative element to it, whether it was students filming scenes of themselves acting or doing a live performance.”

“I’m not an actor, but I stepped out of my comfort zone. It felt like an accomplishment in my Xavier career to do something I wouldn’t normally do.”

—Andre Patin ’26

How to get from reading and interpreting works of Shakespeare in English classes to performing and sharing them with the entire school remained an open question. English teacher Mary-Grace Gannon P’03 ’07 suggested a partnership with The Acting

Company. The professional touring theater company is based in New York City and offers Shakespeare performances, workshops, and immersive residencies to a host of area schools. Xavier previously partnered with The Acting Company on a teaching workshop and residency for students eight years ago. The company also presented repertory at Xavier in 2017 and 2020. “We knew the excellent quality of their work,” explained Gannon. When producing director Devin Brain reached out to Gannon about working with Xavier again, “it sounded like the perfect opportunity to get The Acting Company to give our students new ways to engage with Shakespeare, especially in light of our plan to have our first Shakespeare Festival,” she said. There were 43 English sections this

year, and the department’s goal was to have The Acting Company conduct a workshop with every class in preparation for the Shakespeare Festival. But how much would it cost? “That was the most amazing part,” said Byrne. Providentially, the program could be provided gratis to Xavier because education and outreach work by The Acting Company is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts’ Shakespeare in American Communities program, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, and the Axe-Houghton Foundation. “Xavier students are always exciting to work with,” said Brain, who also led acting workshops in preparation for the festival. “They are quite engaged as far as high school students go and are reading their texts with a great deal of specificity,” which

English 10 Honors students Diego Garcia ’26 and Thelonious Bennett ’26 act out a Hamlet scene for their peers during a workshop.

he described as reinvigorating for the actors.

Byrne said the opportunity was an unequivocal boon for Xavier. “As a department, we were grateful to have such talented performers breathe new life into Shakespeare’s language for our students and to show them how to do so themselves,” he said. “It was a special opportunity for our boys and the kind of thing that can only happen at a school in the heart of New York City.”

ACT II: TEACHING THROUGH PERFORMANCE

It’s early April and teams of actors from The Acting Company have been conducting workshops for Xavier English classes since February. Today, actors Matt Steiner and Chris Thorn are meeting with Margaret Gonzalez P’24’s AP Literature class. Steiner begins by posing a question to students: “When I say Shakespeare, what comes to mind?”

Boring. Mysterious. Complex. Convoluted. The responses are honest and unsurprising, which speaks to the purpose of these acting workshops.

Shakespeare presents many barriers to readers. Elizabethan vocabulary is dense and unfamiliar. Syntax is less predictable. Plot twists are complicated to follow. Shakespeare was meant to be performed. And the more students can engage in the performance of classic texts like Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth, the more meaning and understanding they derive from the work in front of them, and more broadly, literature, current events, and the nature of humanity.

Once the acting workshops are underway, desks and chairs get pushed to the wall. Students are on their feet as they work through a variety of exercises that introduce them to tools they can use to

Jude Wilkes Smith ’26, Will DeMatteo ’26, and Tyler Macia ’26 perform a scene from Macbeth.

Matteo Remia ’27 delivers a monologue from Julius Caesar

read, decode, and perform both verse and prose. Like paying attention to punctuation. Identifying the operative words in passages to make sense of a character’s actions, intentions, and emotional life. Or tapping out iambic pentameter in five short-long beats to contextualize units of rhythm. The workshop facilitators all use the same curriculum, The Acting Clues in Classical Texts, yet no two workshops are alike.

“It was a special opportunity for our boys and the kind of thing that can only happen at a school in the heart of New York City.”

— Aidan Byrne

Talented improvisors, the actors can read the room. When students seem unsure providing a synopsis of Hamlet in English 10, Travis Raeburn offers clues from The Lion King, the more relatable story of a son avenging his father’s death by his evil uncle. Fellow actor Jessica Bates gets a roomful of English 12 students to say lines while mock dribbling and shooting basketballs, an exercise she learned while performing with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.

“The comfortability level the actors have with our students is just fantastic,” Gonzalez observed. “They know how to relate to this age group, and you see the students get more and more engaged. It really shows how much homework the actors do and how much it means to them to be able to communicate this love of Shakespeare and theater.”

In all the workshops, while students used acting tools they’d just acquired, faculty

members took note of ideas to incorporate into classes. “The teaching artists were true professionals. They were patient and encouraging, and they really knew their stuff,” said Aidan Byrne. “And their lessons on Shakespeare were not only great for the boys—our teachers benefited tremendously from their work and learned new strategies for fostering student engagement with the texts.”

“It really brought me back to my original training, that these works are meant to be performed,” said English teacher Kara Henn. “I loved seeing our students on their

feet doing Shakespeare. When they become invested in the story, the language barrier drops very quickly.”

Peter Quartuccio ’02 read Shakespeare as a Xavier student and now teaches it. He appreciates how the workshops and festival support the values and goals of a Jesuit education. “It’s empowered students to interpret the truths these works are telling us,” he noted. “That’s the practice of discernment,” the habits of attentiveness and reflection Xavier aims to instill in all students.

Panagiotis Kokolis ’27 embodies Mark Antony in Julius Caesar

ACT III: DOING THE WORK

Working in groups or individually, students applied their newly acquired understanding of drama and classical texts to film projects. In many cases, students chose the Shakespeare scene they wished to create and offered up imaginative interpretations of the work. Creativity and ingenuity shone through the finished product.

Most chose scenes based on plays read in class. Interpretations ranged from the straightforward (the balcony scene from Romeo & Juliet shot in a Xavier stairwell) to cinematic renditions of Macbeth and Hamlet set in Red Hook and the Rockaways. Students used city playgrounds, parks, apartment terraces, kitchens, and laundry rooms to stage their scenes.

Personal interests, talents, and passions

“It was such a gratifying experience of vulnerability and joy in an engaging intellectual endeavor, the stuff that makes one grateful to be a teacher.”

— Mary-Grace Gannon P’03 ’07

found their way into the short films as well. Influenced by the 1962 French film La Jetée, screened in Matthew Thomas’s creative writing course, Joseph “J.J.” DiBartolo ’24 and Patrick Kear ’24 reenacted the dramatic conclusion from Macbeth using black and white still images with character narration. “We found it had great potential for our own interpretation,” said DiBartolo. The stark imagery was photographed at Fort Tilden, Breezy Point, and DiBartolo scored the

stirring composition for the short film, which was selected by English faculty as one of “The Best of the Best” for the festival.

“There was a lot of freedom with this project that I really liked,” said Anthony Calvanico ’24, who played the three witches from Macbeth in his film for “Modernism and Imprisonment,” taught by Kara Henn. A seasoned editor adept at special effects, Calvanico discovered he could use physical gestures in his performance to communicate action or a character’s state of mind that made the film better. His take on the Song of the Witches—“Double, double toil and trouble”—also earned a spot on “The Best of the Best” list.

Andre Patin filmed the “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” soliloquy from Macbeth for Byrne’s English 10 Honors class. His choice was inspired by the speech’s appearance in the 2014 film Birdman. “I learned a lot from acting, and I think the class did, too,” Patin said of The Acting Company workshops. When the class voted on the film to be performed live at the Shakespeare Festival, Patin’s was chosen. “At first, I didn’t want to do it, but I changed my mind,” he added. “Overall, it was a fantastic experience. [The festival] should definitely be done again because it’s unique and fun.”

ACT IV: SHAKESPEARE ALL DAY

When teachers ask students to step out of their comfort zones, reciprocity makes the lesson all the more valuable. Byrne promised that English faculty would bring their own brand of goofiness to the Shakespeare Festival—and bring it they did. Elizabethan costumes were procured, which teachers gamely wore throughout the day. Six periods of English classes met in Keenan Commons

Students watch Jonah Guinan ’26 in a cinematic rendition of a Macbeth scene.

to screen a selection of films, listen to brief presentations from students on how their projects came together, and watch live performances.

“ The workshops taught me that the punctuation in every single line of Shakespeare meant something. I really enjoyed the whole experience.”

—Panagiotis Kokolis ’27

Panagiotis Kokolis ’27 wore a mixture of joy, pride, and relief after delivering Mark Antony’s monologue following the assassination of Caesar in Julius Caesar. Any apprehension he felt before the performance diminished in his powerful delivery of the “O, pardon me, though bleeding piece of earth” speech. Kokolis said he got a lot out of the workshops and festival preparation in his English 9 class with Una Hughes. “The workshops taught me that the punctuation in every single line of Shakespeare meant something,” which helped the freshman understand what Mark Antony was thinking as he prepared the speech. “I really enjoyed the whole experience.”

Many students reiterated the sentiment,

having experienced Shakespeare in a dynamic way. Mary-Grace Gannon said the daylong festival gave students and teachers a wonderful rally point. “It brought us together in a way we haven’t been together— really together—for a very long time,” she said. Gannon was also struck by students’ reactions to sharing work and performances in a common venue. “They truly enjoyed one another in the moment. It was such a gratifying experience of vulnerability and joy in an engaging intellectual endeavor, the stuff that makes one grateful to be a teacher.”

ACT V: A PERMANENT PART OF THE CURRICULUM

While nearly every scene screened or performed in Keenan Commons on April 30 portrayed a tragedy, Xavier’s first Shakespeare Festival was a triumph. Byrne said English faculty plan to learn from the pilot experience and make the festival a permanent part of the curriculum.

The festival energized the community in other ways. Math teacher Kelly Morenzoni P’24 sent the English department a congratulatory schoolwide email in which she wrote, “Today the life that the students breathed into our halls, our classrooms, and Keenan Commons was palpable.” Most gratifying was the fact that students

were eager to show their own work while championing each other. “What more could we want?!!?” Morenzoni added. “Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to witness their potential come to life and for sharing your love of Shakespeare with us. It truly was one of the best days in a long time.”

Another way to gauge the success of the inaugural festival is to recount the reactions of students who didn’t have to be in Keenan Commons for a particular class. Near the end of fourth period, a group of students walked through the space on their way to other locations. The film by J.J. DiBartolo and Patrick Kear was being shown, and every student in the group stopped to watch.

“Really?” DiBartolo asked when he was later told the film caught the attention of those passing by. “[The festival] has really opened us up to each other more,” he mused. “I’m glad that God has brought us here. I’m glad that God gave creativity to me and my friend to be able to entreat others to watch.”

WATCH

“THE BEST OF THE BEST” FROM THE SHAKESPEARE

Aiden Bonneau ’25 and Luke Dopman ’25 portray a scene from Othello in video format.

A rapt crowd of students enjoys the performances at the Shakespeare Festival.

Shaping Ignatian Leaders

By ERIC KREBS ’17

James Costa ’02

Jennifer Velazquez

Luciano Lovallo

Kaija DeWitt-Allen

For more than 30 years, the Jesuit Schools Network’s Seminars in Ignatian Leadership program has equipped hundreds of educators to better know themselves and better serve their institutions. Dozens of Xavier faculty members and administrators number among their ranks.

Kelly Morenzoni P’24

Andrew Gheraldi

Brian McCabe P’23

Steve Noga

Sara Bacsik

In 1541, the Society of Jesus was a brandnew, fledgling order of the Catholic Church. It had ideals—of service, of education, of fealty to the Pope—and it had a dedicated group of founding fathers, but it needed something more: a leader.

In April of that year, the Jesuits—less than a dozen in number—gathered in Rome to elect their first Superior General. The ballots were unanimous, almost. Everyone wanted St. Ignatius of Loyola to lead. Everyone, that is, except Ignatius himself.

Ignatius was reticent. He worried he was unfit, that the misdeeds of his youth disqualified him from leading the new order. But through discernment, prayer, and much convincing from his friends and mentors, he accepted the post. Ignatius would serve as Superior General until his death in 1556, along the way growing the order from infancy to more than 1,000 priests and 35 Jesuit schools.

Thirty-six Superior Generals and half a millennium later, the Society of Jesus is still growing, and so too are its leaders.

Since 1993, the Jesuit Schools Network

“I looked for the really good teachers who had either expressed interest in administration and who I thought would be good at it, and also people who I thought really had some innate talents that needed to be developed in a way that you can’t do in-house.”

— Michael LiVigni P’21, on nominating Xavier educators for the Seminars

has administered the Seminars in Ignatian Leadership, a series of retreats designed to foster growth—spiritual, pedagogical, managerial, and everything in between— among Jesuit educators. In the three decades since its inception, dozens of Xavier faculty and administrators have taken part in the Ignatian Seminars, bringing the teachings and wisdoms of Ignatius back to 16th Street.

In the 31 years since its inception, the Ignatian Seminars program has undergone a number of changes in form and content. Today, the program consists of four weeklong retreats across two years. Cohorts comprise 20 Jesuit educators—teachers and administrators alike—from nearly a dozen schools across North America (and occasionally farther afield) for training, reflection, prayer, and professional development. And though the program strives to cultivate tangible leadership skills, it is far more than a pre-administration boot camp. The goal is to shape educators who lead from every position, across institutions.

“At the Jesuit Schools Network, we structure our programs for people

across the continuum,” said Tim Sassen, Director of Leadership Development for the Jesuit Schools Network. Sassen has worked for the JSN since 2015 and has overseen the Ignatian Seminars program since 2018. “It’s for emerging leaders, evolving leaders, and trusted leaders. Everyone is welcome; we take all types.”

When former Headmaster and current Director of Student Activities Michael LiVigni P’21 left for his first seminar in the fall of 2002 as part of a group of five Xavier representatives (today, only two per school are allowed), he was in his third year of teaching history at Xavier. By the time he completed the program—a year delayed, due to the birth of his son, Matthew LiVigni ’21—he was already serving as Assistant Headmaster.

During his 15-year tenure as Headmaster, he was responsible for nominating dozens of Xavier faculty to participate in the program. “I looked for the really good teachers who had either expressed interest in administration and who I thought would be good at it, and also people who I thought really had some innate talents that needed to be developed in a

Jim Hederman, S.J.

Daryn Johnson

way that you can’t do in-house,” said LiVigni.

One of those faculty members in whom LiVigni saw innate talent was Evan Bernstein ’04. When Bernstein set out for his first seminar in Malvern, Pennsylvania in the fall of 2016, he was unsure of his future in leadership on 16th Street. At the time, Bernstein was in his sixth year at Xavier and had just begun his term as chair of the math department. “I didn’t know exactly what my career hopes or plans were. I knew that it was a program that wasn’t simply designed to make people an administrator or make people see what administration was like. It went beyond that,” said Bernstein. “It was more interested in showing the different ways you can take on leadership roles within your school, whether that’s in a formal role and title or without.”

A critical means by which the Ignatian Seminars aim to show participants the type of leader they can be is to show them the type of leader they already are. Before arriving, participants complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, a personality assessment tool based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types, which they discuss and analyze during

their first sessions. The MBTI characterizes individuals into one of 16 personality types along four axes of personality with the goal of helping participants understand themselves, and thus understand their peers, too.

“The MBTI marries very nicely with the study of Ignatian spirituality. It’s based on the developmental theory which says that we come to the world kind of hardwired in a certain way,” said Sassen. “But as we mature, we’re able to offset and augment what we’re predisposed to with other gifts, other capacities. It conveys a sense that we are people with potential, that we’re works in progress.”

“I had a decent sense of what type of personality I was and how I operated, but [the MBTI] really helped me understand my own behaviors in a different way, and I think it really helped me understand the behaviors of my colleagues,” said Bernstein. “For instance, if a colleague is silent in a room, it’s not necessarily because they don’t have an opinion, or because they’re angry, but it could simply be they are an introvert who’s really taking the time to process what’s going on.”

Throughout the Ignatian Seminars, participants work to exercise and improve how they understand themselves and others through roleplay sessions in which participants are tasked with embodying a certain professional position and personality type. “There were whole units on how best to run meetings, and that provided great roleplay moments,” said LiVigni.

LiVigni recalls being tasked with playing an “alpha-leader” type president of a fictional school—the polar opposite of his own leadership type—in one session, and he was surprised with the visceral frustration expressed by his simulation partner. “I had to say, ‘Dude, this isn’t me,’” LiVigni recalled. “It was fun to play, but what was even more interesting is how people reacted. I found it really helpful as a new administrator to understand that everyone doesn’t think like me, that my personality is mine. And that means people aren’t always going to react the way I expect them to.”

“I remember we each got the opportunity to act as if we were interviewing for the role of a principal,” remembered math teacher

Alicia Psillos

Michael LiVigni P’21

Lindsay Willert

Kelly Morenzoni P’24, who began her cohort in 2014. “And I remember wearing these professional clothes that I brought with me to Arizona. And they just asked me, ‘Kelly, why are you so dressed up?’ And I was like: because this matters to me!”

Morenzoni participated in an experimental double cohort, in which two groups of 20 (including history teacher James Costa ’02, Vice President for Advancement Shane Lavin ’03, and guidance counselor Jean Sherman P’20) participated in the program simultaneously. “The double cohort was really interesting,” said Morenzoni. “There were some times where our sessions would overlap, and then other times where we were separate from each other. But one of the great things about the Seminars is all of the stuff that goes on in the spaces in between and after each session. The conversations carry on because it’s such a committed group of educators, just in different roles.”

Morenzoni is among the many nonadministrator Xavier faculty members who have participated in the Ignatian Seminars. For her and many others, the Seminars reinforced

“One

of the great things about the Seminars is all of the stuff that goes on in the spaces between and after each session. The conversations carry on because it’s such a committed group of educators, just in different roles.”

— Kelly Morenzoni P’24

that teaching is an act of service, and that service itself is a form of leadership. “It’s easy to think, ‘Oh, I’m not a leader, I’m just a teacher,’” said Morenzoni, “but in fact you’re there leading a multitude of students over the course of the year in the classroom, and it sounds like a lofty goal, but you have to model excellence, demonstrating a commitment to doing right, and showing your best self on a daily basis.”

For some, the Ignatian Seminars helped them discern that the right place for them to lead at Xavier was not in administration, but in the classroom.

Math teacher and former Director of Student Activities Alicia Psillos participated

in the Seminars from 2021 to 2023. While the Seminars are designed to create momentary respites from the bustle of everyday life, the outside world has on many occasions found its way in. When her cohort began in the fall of 2021, Psillos was elated to travel to Pennsylvania for the program. “I think people were just so eager to be doing something because it was after COVID, and everyone was just excited to meet new people, to be a part of something bigger, and just get out there,” she said.

But when it came time for the program’s second session in spring 2022, the Omicron variant had other plans. “We were supposed to go to San Francisco, but then there was an uptick in cases,” said Psillos. “And everything was canceled.”

But Psillos and her colleagues weren’t ready to let the opportunity slip by. “The whole point of the Seminars is really gelling with other people, getting to know them, seeing what they’re doing with their schools, and learning from them,” said Psillos, who invited the members of the cohort who lived locally—including members from Fordham

Shawna Gallagher Vega

Michael Fiore ’10

Margaret Gonzalez P’24

Evan Bernstein ’04

Prep and Loyola School, as well as Xavier’s Patrick Dormer P’17—to her Long Island home, where they could continue the work of discernment, reflection, and growth. “I’m glad we did that, because I think the lessons from the Seminars could have easily gotten lost,” said Psillos.

The end of Psillos’s cohort, in 2023, coincided with her stepping back from her administrative role as Director of Student Activities. “I had been teaching three classes and directing student activities for eight years. I was exhausted, and I was losing my steam. It wasn’t fair to my students,” said Psillos. “I know it’s weird to go to a leadership conference and then you’ve stepped down from an important leadership role, and it was a tough decision to make, but I think it was just a reminder of why I chose to be a teacher in the first place. I don’t know about the future, but right now I want to be a leader in the classroom.”

Religion teacher and Dean of Academic Systems Lindsay Willert’s Seminars cohort, which began in 2017, coincided with her transition into the Xavier administration. And since completing the program, Willert has returned to the Ignatian Seminars as an

“The focus turns from us as individual leaders to us as leaders with an institution, from cura personalis to cura apostolica. You get the sense of being rooted in the history of this project and the life of the church. It’s so much larger than any one school.”

adjunct instructor. In that role, Willert’s responsibilities included multiple presentations to the participating groups. “I don’t necessarily love presenting to a large group. I am a very introverted personality, and presenting to adults is different than presenting to kids,” said Willert. “But I think the Seminars have helped me have enough courage to recognize that this is a way I want to stretch myself.”

Beyond strengthening her own skills as an administrator and leader, the Ignatian Seminars broadened Willert’s understanding of the scope—and purpose—of her leadership. “In the final week, you really focus on the founding of the Jesuits, and the story of Ignatius, and the focus turns from us as individual leaders to us as leaders within an institution, from cura personalis to cura apostolica,” said Willert. “You get the sense of being rooted in the history of this project and the life of the church. It’s so much larger than any one school.”

Willert is not the only one for whom the Ignatian Seminars had this impact. “We always preach to the kids that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. It’s good for us to

remind the students of that, but I think it’s also good for us as the adults to be aware of that as well,” said Bernstein. “At the Seminars, you’re with other colleagues who are spread out across the country, and you understand that there are so many people doing the same thing and trying to achieve the same thing and work towards the same mission.”

And though Xavier is just one school of many across the globe committed to advancing the mission of Jesuit education, the faculty and administrators it has sent to the Seminars in Ignatian Leadership have continued to distinguish themselves, time and time again.

“Over the years, Xavier has been very invested in the program, and for that we’re very grateful,” said Tim Sassen. “We always say at the beginning of the program, ‘If you’re waiting to be entertained like you’re sitting in a movie theater, that’s just not going to happen. You’ve got to lean in.’ Xavier people get that. They’ll do anything, whether it’s rearranging tables or leading a small group. They’ve always impressed me that way.”

“When I see a Xavier participant coming on board, I’m thinking, ‘This will be a winner.’”

—Lindsay Willert

Joseph Sweeney ’85 P’23

Shane Lavin ’03

Jean Sherman P’20

George Jackson Academy

Hoboken Shelter

Trinity’s Services and Food for the Homeless

Hoboken Shelter

George Jackson Academy

Xavier Mission

To Act Justly in Service of Others

At Xavier, Pedro Arrupe, S.J.’s historic call to form “men for others” is deeply ingrained in the curriculum. Based on the Ignatian philosophy that “love is shown more in deeds than in words,” the Christian Service Program plays a seminal role in the formation of those other-centered young men.

By ASTREA SLEZAK

Although service has always been part of a Xavier education and an embodiment of its mission, senior Christian service was formally added to the curriculum in the early 1980s. Today, seniors are required to spend 72 hours of their second semester serving others. Students are placed at more than 100 locations, ranging from food pantries and soup kitchens to hospitals and schools.

Seniors are not the only students required to complete service work through this program. Juniors are assigned 15 hours of service, and sophomores are required to complete 10 hours. In addition to the Christian Service Program, students are encouraged to partake in the Companions of St. Francis Xavier Service and Immersion Program (CFX), which sends students, faculty, staff, and alumni to serve in such locations as Maryland, Tennessee, South Dakota, and the Dominican Republic.

The goal of service at Xavier is to form young men for others, in the truest sense of Arrupe’s words. “Today our prime educational objective must be to form men-for-others,” the former Superior General of the Jesuits declared in 1973. “Men who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.”

Service is also for the enrichment of the student. It is not an internship or job training, nor is it a prerequisite for a career, but rather a chance for students to recognize their potential and talents as they work for justice.

Earlier this year, following in the footsteps of generations of Sons of Xavier, members of the Class of 2024 volunteered their Mondays

for the greater good. Some students even opted to work at service sites that require their hours take place on Saturdays and Sundays.

Planning for senior service placements begins in September of a student’s final year at Xavier, and students register for particular sites in November of that same semester. A plethora of information is provided to students to assist them in choosing a placement. They can narrow their search by location, population served, or type of service, such as a food pantry or a retirement home.

The goal of service at Xavier is to form young men for others, in the truest sense of Arrupe’s words. “Today our prime educational objective must be to form men-for-others,” the former Superior General of the Jesuits declared in 1973. “Men who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.”

Prior to their first day of service, which is usually the first or second Monday of second semester, seniors participate in Xavier’s schoolwide Christian Service Mass—a commissioning and blessing of the students approaching the start of their placements.

This year, students gave of themselves at various locations including the Xavier Mission, the Hoboken Shelter, Trinity’s Services and Food

for the Homeless (SAFH), and George Jackson Academy.

The Xavier Mission, located in the Church of St. Francis Xavier, is an organization that provides basic services and opportunities to New Yorkers in need. There, Sons of Xavier assisted in preparing donated items for clothing drives, cooking meals, cleaning Hurtado Hall (where guests of the Mission are hosted for a meal each Sunday), and so much more.

“Naturally in a service program, the transformative power is in that students realize they can effect change. We recognized our transformative ability—having a taste of the reality of service work being a viable model for one’s lifestyle and a personal commitment, especially in a life of faith.”

— Julian Navarro ’19

“My favorite thing about the Xavier Mission is that it offers a personal connection with homeless people while also having the physical aspect of the work,” said Ratu Delano Navoti ’24. “Sometimes, making a real change means you need to get your hands dirty, mop a couple of floors, and do some dishes.”

At the Hoboken Shelter and Trinity SAFH, students assisted in the preparation and distribution of meals. The goal for students at both locations is always to work in a guest-facing capacity.

“Xavier has been hugely impactful for us, in being able to effectively fulfill our mission,” said Pastor Will Kroeze, a member of the Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish. “They’ve shown great dedication and love of service, and I think it’s safe to say that they’ve all been touched by their interactions and feel more rooted in the community we serve.”

That sentiment was reiterated by the students who volunteered at Trinity SAFH. “I enjoy being a help for the people coming in for food,” said Giovanni Clare ’24. “It warms my heart to see their smiles.”

At George Jackson Academy, an all-boys independent middle school in the East Village, seniors volunteered as teaching aides, assisting teachers with various tasks throughout the school day. They

alternated between classrooms and teachers, providing them the opportunity to work with a variety of students in many capacities.

“Having them here is a huge gift because, one, they’re good kids. They’re really good role models for the kids without even trying, but also the ways in which they help,” said Head of School Ramón Javier. “It’s another example for our students of ways they can behave, and that is really huge. It’s always helpful for young kids to see good, older young people around them. And the relationship we have with Xavier is fantastic. We are very grateful. We hope they get as much out of this as we do.”

While completing this service during their final semester at Xavier, seniors meet in small reflection groups facilitated by faculty, staff, and administrators. They are also assigned two reflection papers that are graded by their religion teachers—one that serves as their final reflection upon completion of the program.

The guided sessions allow students to think critically about their work while connecting it to Scripture and other material related to Catholic social thought. It contextualizes their work while supporting the communal aspect of service, sharing their learned and practical experiences with fellow classmates and educators.

On Friday, April 12, Xavier held a Service Assembly showcasing the work of students engaging in service and providing them the opportunity to share their experiences with classmates on a larger scale. Joshua Cecutti ’24, who completed his senior service at the Brooklyn Combine, a nonprofit that serves youth and young adults in lowincome and underserved communities, presented to his peers. “Take the time to find a service center, whether it is for your junior or senior service, that you believe will make a real difference,” he said. “Mine has deeply affected me and has opened my eyes to a whole new world. The experiences you will have will genuinely affect you, and I hope that you take the time to let it happen.”

“Service is a special and unique way to discover your purpose. Using your God-given gifts and talents to serve other people is the best way to discover that,” said Dr. Kwame Ohemeng ’96, an anesthesiologist at Bergen Anesthesia Group at Valley Hospital in Paramus, New Jersey. “We are all uniquely blessed in certain ways. We are uniquely us. God made us a specific way and I think you feel most fulfilled when you are walking in your purpose, when you are doing what you were intended to do. Christian service exposes you to that.”

Ohemeng completed his senior service at Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Washington Heights emergency room. When writing his personal statement for his medical school application, Ohemeng included a section recalling his service work at Xavier, noting how impactful it was in his decision to undertake a career in medicine. “Medicine in general is about sacrifice,” he said. “It’s about giving yourself in service of others, which essentially is what we are learning through the service experience.”

Hoboken Shelter

Julian Navarro ’19, an advancement associate at America Magazine, also spoke to how the Christian Service Program, and specifically senior service, helped him discover a passion for justice.

“Naturally in a service program, the transformative power is in that students realize they can effect change,” said Navarro, who volunteered at CHiPS, a soup kitchen and shelter for homeless pregnant women and infants, during his senior year. “We recognized our transformative ability—having a taste of the reality of service work being a viable model for one’s lifestyle and a personal commitment, especially in a life of faith.”

“ This is not just something nice to do, and you don’t have to be a Christian to partake in it. This is a Gospel imperative to go to the places Jesus went—and would spend time at today—and do the work of feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and doing all this in solidarity, love, and kinship with one another.”

— Dr. Katie McCann

“Each of us who were involved was from Park Slope, so we were engaging with people that we saw regularly on the margins. Engaging in the plainest of conversations or having the smallest of laughs was valuable and speaks to the experience being transformative, not only for us but anyone involved in the program,” Navarro continued. “I think that in its length, the length of the commitment, it affords students the opportunity to witness the transformative power of service work for those being served, but also being able to live that service work and understand that you as an individual are capable of effecting change. And I think that takes time to learn and nothing presents that opportunity like the service program.”

“What we partake in as service at Xavier is not simply volunteering or civic engagement or community service. Although all these things are good and valuable, we are distinctly called to partake in Christian service,” said Director of Ignatian Service Programs Dr. Katie McCann. “This is not just something nice to do, and you don’t have to be a Christian to take part in it. This is a Gospel imperative to go to the places Jesus went—and would spend time at today—and do the work of feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and doing all this in solidarity, love, and kinship with one another.”

XAVIER’S IMPACT

This spring, seniors volunteered at 126 service sites including the following:

Ascension Church Food Pantry

Bay Ridge Center

Blessed Sacrament Soup Kitchen

The Brooklyn Combine

Brooklyn Jesuit Prep

Buckingham Care and Rehabilitation Center

Cassidy’s Place

Clove Lakes Health Care and Rehabilitation Center

Cobble Hill Health Center

Divine Wisdom Catholic Academy

Downtown Giants

Eastchester Rehabilitation and Health Care Center

The Epiphany School

Father Billini Association

George Jackson Academy

God’s Love We Deliver

The Guild for Exceptional Children

Hoboken Shelter

Holy Child Preschool

Maimonides Medical Center

Mary Manning Walsh

Masbia Soup Kitchen

Mercy Hospital

Merricat’s Castle School

Middle Village Adult Center

The New Jewish Home

Tiny Tots Playhouse

New York City Public Schools (Various Locations)

New York Common Pantry

New York Irish Center

New York-Presbyterian Hospital (Various Locations)

Norwegian Christian Home and Health Center

Ozanam Hall Nursing Home

Part of the Solution (POTS)

Project Hospitality

Providence Rest

Queens Center for Progress

REACH Program

St. Francis de Sales Catholic Academy

School of the Blessed Sacrament

The Shield Institute

Staten Island University Hospital

Sunrise Senior Living

Transfiguration School

Trinity’s Services and Food for the Homeless

Visiting Neighbors

Xavier Mission

Sons of Xavier

A GOLDEN REUNION

After kicking off their 50th Reunion with an off-site welcome event on May 3, the Class of 1974 returned to 16th Street for a moving 50th Reunion Gala on May 4. During dinner in Keenan Commons, Bill McKiernan ’74 and Kevin McLaughlin ’74 introduced the reunion class gift, the Class of 1974 John J. Ryan ’74 Endowed Scholarship, named in honor of a beloved classmate who perished at the World Trade Center on 9/11. More than $250,000 has been raised toward the Class of 1974’s $600,000 goal.

1945

George Camisa writes that he is “still a Kaydet and still driving at 95...but then again, this is California. Not too many of us left who remember Gatelys on 13th Street, the Ninth Regiment Armory on 14th Street, or the drill march on 15th to the Armory’s rear entrance.”

1947

Dick Ryan attended his 57th Masters Tournament this April. “Amazing how the place has changed over all these years but has maintained its status as the best sporting event in the world to attend,” he writes. “I have been fortunate to have attended just about every one of the world’s sporting events over my 94 years.”

1949

Dr. Tom O’Brien and his wife, Nancy, are enjoying their new ground-level home in Washington, North Carolina. Last August and September, they cruised the Great Lakes from Chicago to Toronto, Canada. Tom and Nancy’s four sons are all retired (and all grandfathers), and their daughter is approaching retirement as a surgical physician’s assistant. Their current count of greatgrandchildren is four, with two additions coming this summer. The O’Briens maintain their support of the scholarship they created in memory of Tom’s late classmate, Paul Curran, to benefit deserving Xavier students.

1956

Dr. Frank Perroni is semi-retired but remains active assisting medical startups. He is passionate about ophthalmic research and has been in touch with Dr. Matthias Steger, CEO of Endogena Therapeutics, whose regenerative medicine is bringing sight back to those with retinitis pigmentosa.

“Dr. Steger and his team have developed a molecular compound which activates dormant progenitor cells in the eye, which move to the retina and rebuild rods and cones to restore sight,” Perroni writes. “Volunteering

to assist funding their clinical Phase II trials is gratifying, and an honor to help this therapy reach full FDA approval in the near future. Their future goals are cellular regeneration in the lungs, heart, and nervous system.”

1957

Leonard Dwarica is the distinguished practitioner in residence-health law at Quinnipiac University School of Law and professor of medical sciences at Quinnipiac’s Netter School of Medicine. He retired in 2002 from Bayer Corporation, where he served as senior counsel.

Dr. Joseph Juhasz writes that he is “enjoying my children and grandchildren among all the craziness of the 21st century.” He Zooms regularly with his classmate Kevin Morrissey.

On April 7, Fr. Tim Tighe, CSP celebrated a memorial Mass at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle on West 59th Street. In attendance were Judy and Marc Baciagalupo, Pat and Frank Cappelli, Ann and Jack Caslin, Rae and John Monteverdi, Lucia Murphy and Nick Pinto, and Linda and Joe Spinella. The Mass was celebrated in remembrance of the deceased members of the Class of 1957 and has been a tradition since 1998. If any classmate is interested in attending future Masses, please contact Nick Pinto at nlpinto@att.net

1958

Joan and Pete Hoffmann recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, returning to Aruba where they spent their honeymoon. Pete continues to be active as board chair for an affordable housing land trust he established and as board president for HOPE Services, an organization charged with combating homelessness on Hawaii Island. He also is in his 27th year in the County Senior Softball League and has been known to cheer loudly for his beloved LA Dodgers.

After a lively class discussion about leadership, Dr. Bob Vecchioti submitted the following on behalf of his classmates:

“On September 9, 2022, nine members of the Class of 1958 gathered on Zoom to discuss leadership—how it began at Xavier and developed to the present day. It was a lively discussion and covered a lot about leadership. We thought it a good idea to share many of the thoughts and reflections that we had.

While at Xavier in 1958 we experienced leadership with the symbols of authority and respect from the colonel to the sergeant. Upperclassmen were given authority by virtue of their successes. Our teachers helped move us up in the ranks with their advice both academically and becoming involved in the varied extracurricular activities. But it was basically command and obey as JROTC cadet underclassmen. We were at attention when the command was given. The qualities of the leader were the basis of leadership then. We learned to follow and to lead. We learned respect for upperclassmen, and we learned the early signs of leadership. It was a good beginning!

ROCKAWAY RECEPTION July 9, 2024

JERSEY SHORE RECEPTION July 17, 2024

QUOGUE RECEPTION August 22, 2024

ADMISSIONS OPEN HOUSE

October 19, 2024

TURKEY BOWL November 28, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. RECEPTION December 4, 2024

For the latest event updates, visit xavierhs.org/events.

1. Dick Ryan ’47, right, at the 2024 Masters Tournament.

As we experienced more of life with its opportunities and challenges, the perception of leadership changed. Was Xavier a base for our changing views? Yes! One change as we became adults was to listen more with respect for each person. These are some of the values that influence behavior and provide a model for it. This came together under the banner of servant leadership. Robert Greenleaf, an executive at AT&T, was the first to write about servant leadership in 1977. We learned the importance of the contributions of women and the generations that would follow us. Women bring a new emphasis of focusing on people and having more patience while helping people grow. In Latin America women are the religious representatives of large remote areas until a priest arrives to administer the sacraments.

With Generations Y (Millennial) and Z (GenAI) we see them more engaged in work with autonomy and frequent feedback on their performance. Rules do not seem to be their primary concern. They work hard and give equal time to their families. But have the basic principles of leadership changed? Rather

than changing, they seem to be evolving. There are more women leaders in the Vatican. Women CEOs are gaining more influence in corporate America. The social involvement of Gens Y and Z are visible in public demonstrations for change. Formal authority is giving way to different people rising to fill gaps in making progress toward greater engagement and results. We believe that Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. said it all when he wrote in 1973: ‘We exist to serve others!’ As members of the Class of 1958, we see the importance of that simple phrase as an unchanging principle of leadership.”

1960

Robert Galastro sends his classmates his best wishes for health and happiness in the coming year.

1962

Rocco Iacovone and his wife, Denise, enjoyed their tour in Messina, Italy, this spring. Rocco also released new music in March—Spheres and Healing Across the Globe. “Healing Across America was the original title,” he writes. “It was written as a response to the 9/11 attacks in New York City. At that time, we performed this suite around the city in lots, gardens, and anywhere we could. In those dark days it drew people together, and offered hope and comfort through community. In light of the many terrible events that have happened in the world since then, we want to broaden the scope and re-dedicate it as Healing Across the Globe. We offer it as a means of healing, spiritual evolution, and awareness. Acknowledgment is the first step in healing. We learned that from Coltrane.” To learn more about Rocco’s music, visit roccojohn.bandcamp.com.

1964

Last year, entertainment lawyer Bob Donnelly donated 35 gold record plaques to Providence College, his collegiate alma mater, where they are now displayed throughout the halls of the

Smith Center for the Arts. “Bob donated these record plaques to inspire students that they, too, can pursue successful careers in the music industry. Providence College is immensely grateful to Bob for this unique gift,” the college said in a press release.

1966

Dr. Ed DeSimone, professor of pharmacy sciences at Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, recently spoke at three conferences in nine days on issues related to addiction and substance use disorders, his area of specialization. He spoke to the Heartland Crisis Intervention Team, the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (Nebraska Chapter), and at the American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting. DeSimone has taught a course on addiction for more than 30 years. He recently celebrated his 35th year working for and with the Jesuits at Creighton University in Omaha.

Patrick O’Brien traveled from Oklahoma to join his Manhattan College classmates marching up Fifth Avenue at this year’s New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. “Since the parade was on a Saturday, my son Ian was able to join me without playing hooky from work,” he writes.

1968

Craig Dillon writes that he and Joe Guida both live in Columbia County, New York, and recently reconnected 56 years after their Xavier graduation. They have a monthly lunch in the city of Hudson, and any classmates are welcome to join. Dillon can be reached at craig@craigdillon. com, and Guida can be reached at joeg964@yahoo.com.

Jim Mantle and Dr. Dave McGroarty, co-captains of the 1967-68 cross country and track teams, returned to Van Cortlandt Park to relive their glory days on May 4.

1. Dr. Ed DeSimone ’66. 2. Patrick O’Brien ’66 and his son, Ian, at the 2024 New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

3. Jim Mantle ’68 and Dr. Dave McGroarty ’68 at Van Cortlandt Park.

CELEBRATE XAVIER SCHOLARSHIP GALA

April 19, 2024 • Gotham Hall

1. David Said, S.J. cheers as emcees Michael Autovino ’13 and Eugene Flinn rally the crowd. 2. Mike Flynn ’14, Viviana Torres, Jillian Nicholson, Andrew Piccione ’16, Jake Nicholson ’14, and James Amodeo ’14. 3. Eugene and Joyce Flinn with John Meditz and Holly Pizzuta. 4. Diana Ramirez and Ron Robinson. 5. Kevin and Annette Peebles, Victoria Lauricella, Rose Lauricella, and Frank Orlich. 6. Jenni Adamo and Robert Adamo P’21. 7. Steve ’75 and Nancy Vincent with Claudia and James Joyce P’22 ’24. 8. Catherine Kelly P’25, Natasha Fedorow P’25, and Maria Mazzeo P’24.

THE CLASS OF ’67 HONORS THE FALLEN

BY ASTREA SLEZAK

In the fall of 2022, Jack Oliva ’67 and his wife, Dorothy, were watching the news when they noticed a segment about volunteers who washed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“I took a keen interest in the story, as members of my class were students at Xavier during the Vietnam War, and in fact, we lost one of our military science professors, Captain Alonzo Toal, in the war sometime just after we graduated,” Oliva said.

After the news report concluded, Dorothy remarked that a similar project would be perfect for her husband’s Xavier class to complete together. The Class of 1967 is notoriously close-knit; 90 members of the class stay connected via email, and many attend gettogethers four to five times a year.

“Our expression in the Class of ’67 is, ‘If Xavier makes us sons, then we are all brothers,’” said Deacon Frank Orlando ’67.

At Xavier’s 175th anniversary gala in December 2022, Oliva brought the idea of washing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as a group to Garvey, the class’s Cadet Colonel.

Garvey served as a Civil Engineer Corps officer in the U.S. Navy from 1971 to 1974. Though he was in the service during Vietnam, he was not sent overseas—but he knew many who lost their lives serving there. He had the honor of serving as an escort for 20 prisoners of war during Operation Homecoming when POWs returned from Vietnam. So he was all in.

“We worked together over the winter and early spring to connect with the park ranger in Washington, and also to notify our class members that we were going to launch this project as a class effort,” Oliva said.

At 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 29, 2023, Oliva, Orlando, Garvey, J.P. Maher ’67, Arthur Hetherington ’67, and Bob Kresofsky ’67 set off to do just that—to wash the

Vietnam Veterans Memorial together as brothers.

Early in the afternoon on Saturday, after their volunteer service, the group visited the Chapel on the Washington Navy Yard.

“This activity was of special significance for us, in that during his Navy tour in the early 1970s, Joe Garvey was stationed at the Navy Yard, and while there he played a leading role in the completion of the chapel renovation and its dedication. During our visit, another from our group, Deacon Frank Orlando, led us in a brief service and reflection, not only on the lives lost in the Vietnam War but also on the many others who served during that time. Having this additional time for reflection and sharing of our thoughts about the war and this time in our nation’s history enabled each of us in our own personal way to remember and honor our service personnel for the sacrifices they and their families made,” Oliva said.

“For me, there’s a bit of survivor’s remorse. They went and died, and I survived,” Orlando added. “And only by my good fortune and the grace of God did I not get sent there. My draft number was 365 out of 366. If I never win anything again, I am grateful for that.”

The Class of 1967’s day of

service was very special to each and every classmate who participated. It was another way their brotherhood could be utilized to do good, more than half a century after leaving Xavier.

“It’s very personal to all of us. Many, many of us have served,” said Garvey. “Frank Orlando was in the Coast Guard, and Jack Oliva was in the U.S. Army Reserve. You know, we see 58,281 people of our generation who were killed in action and 153,272 who were wounded in action. So it was very important for us to participate in the project.”

In fact, the classmates plan to return to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial this summer to once again wash the wall and honor the fallen.

“The names on that wall were our contemporaries. If you go back and look at the birthdates of the majority of the people on that wall, they are 1948, 1949— and most of us were born in ’49,” Orlando said. “Most of us came to the realization that these were our brothers and sisters who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Above: Joe Garvey ’67, J.P. Maher ’67, Art Hetherington ’67, Frank Orlando ’67, Bob Kresofsky ’67, and Jack Oliva ’67. Right: The group left a Xavier hat at the wall in memory of their teacher Alonzo Toal, who died in Vietnam.

Last December, Jim Tierney attended the retired New York FBI Christmas party at Hurley’s Saloon alongside Mike Ferrandino ’75, Dave Velasquez ’78, Pat Carroll ’83, and John Bivona ’85.

Jim Van Gieson has retired from a variety of lab jobs. He has three grandchildren and still plays music and writes poems and paragraphs (for which he thanks Mr. Makuta).

1970

John Molino recently published his fifth suspense novel, Standing Stones. His books are available on Amazon.

1971

John Hallinan is a volunteer with the Ignatian Volunteer Corps in Philadelphia. He currently serves at Water is Life Kenya, a Newark, Delaware-based nonprofit that provides sustainable water projects as well as other incomeproducing opportunities to the Maasai people in Southern Kenya.

1973

Bob Maguire enjoyed a mini-reunion in Boca Raton, Florida with Charlie Butera, Bob Fitzsimmons, John Lapsley, and Bill Raichle.

Bruce Caulfield P’26 is bringing Tracks Raw Bar and Grill to the LIRR concourse in Grand Central. He hopes to open by this fall.

Dr. Patrick Connolly is “happy to announce I am two years NED (no evidence of disease), back at work at UMass as chief of spinal surgery.

Enjoying patients more than ever, most likely a consequence of being on the ‘receiving team’ for an extended period. During my time off, I had a chance to re-read some of Mr. Foley’s favorites: ‘What does not kill you makes you stronger.’”

Dr. Victor Vallo was recently hired as an adjunct professor of music at the American College of Music. He continues to teach at Le Moyne College and serves as the music director and conductor of both the Syracuse Chamber Orchestra and the Auburn Chamber Orchestra in Syracuse.

1974

As executive director of the interstate commission on the Potomac River Basin, Mike Nardolilli helped secure $500,000 for a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on ways to make the drinking water of the D.C. area more resilient to contamination events and severe droughts.

1975

Brendan Finn has been elected president of the city council for Long Beach, New York.

William “Chip” Stokes is serving part-time as an assisting bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, which is headquartered in Jacksonville and comprised of 77 congregations in the northern part of the state.

1976

Mike Butler and his wife, Ginny, are thoroughly enjoying their first year of retirement. Mike

is volunteering with Physicians for a National Health Plan “and otherwise advocating for reform of our dysfunctional health care system.” His company gave them a first-class Eurail Pass as a retirement gift, so Mike and Ginny spent April and May on a 10-country rail trip across Europe. In July, Mike will travel to England to compete in the Henley Masters Regatta in a Georgetown alumni boat, then on to Grenada where he will take a course to become open-water Scuba certified. “Plans for the second half of the year are still taking shape,” Mike writes, “but will probably include an RV journey across the Western states.”

John Noonan was recently awarded his United States Coast Guard Master Captain credential.

Dr. Pete Sciabarra has returned to Vistage Worldwide as chair of a chief executive group. He and his wife, Carol, recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

1979

Joe Ferrara recently began the first year of his three-year term as chair of the U.S. National Committee for Crystallography. He continues as chair of the board of managers of IUCr2026, LLC and as an advisor to the International Union of Crystallography’s Finance Committee. Ferrara is a firefighter-EMT at Timber Lakes Volunteer Fire Department (for which he also serves as a treasurer) in Spring, Texas.

Eduardo Sarduy wishes his Xavier brothers a happy 45th reunion

1. Dave Velazquez ’78, Jim Tierney ’68, Mike Ferrandino ’75, Pat Carroll ’83, and John Bivona ’85 at the retired New York FBI Christmas party at Hurley’s Saloon in December 2023.

2. John Lapsley ’73, Bill Raichle ’73, Bob Maguire ’73, Bob Fitzsimmons ’73, and Charlie Butera ’73 in Delray Beach, Florida.

3. Dr. Victor Vallo ’73.

4. Mike Nardolilli ’74.

5. Mike Butler ’76.

6. Dr. Pete Sciabarra ’76 and his wife, Carol.

year. He is considering retirement and a move to the Midwest.

1980

In March, Jude Badaracco retired from the New York State Court System after 31 years as a case management coordinator for the Westchester County Supreme Court.

1982

Keith Farrell lives in Pensacola, Florida, where he’s finishing an addition to a rental property. He writes that his “daughter added barkeep to her resume in Pittsburgh; son Hayden was promoted to Petty Officer 3rd Class USN; and son Emilio, currently a sophomore at Stanford, is studying mechanical engineering.”

Patrick Durkin is a professional pianist/vocalist and piano teacher. He has performed in piano bars in Norway, Barbados, and the Netherlands. Durkin lives in Franklin, Massachusetts, with his

wife and daughter. His website is www.patrickdurkin.com.

1986

Jorge Jorge, Mark Jannone, and Pierre Lenis extend a warm Miami welcome to any Xavier brother who would like to join them for their routine socials. If you’re in the Miami area and would like to connect, please contact Jannone at mark.jannone@gmail.com.

1987

Dr. David Campion has been traveling in India while on sabbatical. “In January, I had the privilege of attending Mass at the Bom Jesus Basilica, the Jesuit church that contains the remains of St. Francis Xavier,” he writes. “In 1552, Xavier died on an island off the coast of Southern China and a year later his body was transported to Goa, where his missionary apostolate in Asia began. In 1637 Xavier’s incorrupt remains were placed in a glass container in the nave of the church. Today the relic of Xavier is venerated by Christians and Hindus alike. Visiting this pilgrimage site was an amazing and humbling experience.”

Paul Mattiola was recently promoted to senior director of tax data solutions at Verizon. With more than 30 years in corporate income tax operations, Mattiola leads initiatives related to tax data management and analytics, utilizing cutting-edge cloudbased technology solutions. Paul and his wife, Tina, live in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with their three

children. Their sons, Paul III and John, attend the University of Notre Dame, and their daughter Olivia attends Fairfield University.

1989

After 30 years of service, Thomas Brogan recently retired from the New York City Police Department as a sergeant.

1999

Andreas Andrea, a seasoned supply chain and logistics professional, was interviewed for the eCom Logistics podcast earlier this year.

2002

Michael C. O’Brien and his wife, Megan, live in Astoria. They enjoyed a honeymoon in South Africa, where they visited some of the bride’s family, swam with seals, hiked Lions Head Mountain in Cape Town, visited vineyards, and enjoyed a safari. They were thrilled to see elephants, lions, rhinos, African buffaloes, and the elusive leopard before returning home. Michael works as a senior content marketer, and Megan is a marketing manager.

2003

Nate Samuel is the manager of the Brooklyn College Library’s Faculty Training and Development Lab. He was recently featured on the school’s website as part of its Best of BC series highlighting students, faculty, and alumni whose “collective success stories capture how the spirit of Brooklyn guides our community

1. Jorge Jorge ’86, Mark Jannone ’86, and Pierre Lenis ’86 in Miami.

2. Patrick Durkin ’82.

3. Dr. David Campion ’87 in front of Bom Jesus Basilica in India.

4. Paul Mattiola ’87 with his family.

5. Thomas Brogan ’89.

SPRING ALUMNI RECEPTIONS

1. Sons and friends of Xavier gathered at the home of Bill LaRosa ’61 in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, in April. 2. In February, alumni and friends gathered for Mass at the home of Gene Rainis ’58, who later hosted a brunch reception at Harbour Ridge Country Club in Palm City, Florida. 3. The Fort Lauderdale Reception, hosted at the home of Vin Handal ’80 in February. 4. Steven Motondo ’23, Sean Caulfield ’19, and Lorenzo Reetz ’22 in Boston. 5. Chris Perini ’79 hosted the Naples Reception at Quail West Country Club in April. 6. Joe Maher ’67 hosted the Boston Reception at the University of Massachusetts Club in April. 7. Joe Buongiorno ’75 and Ken Sidlowski ’71 P’05 in Naples, Florida.

1. Brian Patterson ’17.

2. Timothy Burkhart ’18.

3. Matthew DuBois ’19 with family and friends—including his former Senior Army Instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Roy Campbell, USA (Ret.)—at his commissioning ceremony.

to discover their passions and realize their ambitions at and after Brooklyn College.”

2005

Steve Elman recently transitioned into a new role as an OSINT Digital Reconnaissance Analyst supporting Naval Special Warfare units.

2008

In January, Peter O’Neill was promoted to vice president of hedging at PCBB. He and his wife and daughter are moving back to New York City from California to be closer to family.

2013

Kevin McNamara is an assistant geotechnical engineer at NV5. He earned a BSE from Virginia Tech and completed post-graduate coursework in urban planning at Pratt University. McNamara organized a softball team for NV5 and is enjoying playing in Central Park in the Engineers and Architects’ League.

2016

Xander Berg matched into medical physics residency at Northwest Medical Physics Center. “It’s a twoyear post-graduate curriculum for radiation oncology,” he writes. “My next year will be in Washington

State, and the second year will be in Anchorage, Alaska.”

Paul Gargiulo was recently admitted to the New York State Bar after graduating from law school and passing the bar exam in 2023. He has been employed by the New York City Law Department as an assistant corporation counsel since last September.

2017

Brian Patterson is a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He currently serves as the executive officer of Black Knight Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment in Ansbach, Germany. Patterson is an instructor for the American Red Cross and is pursuing a master’s degree in unmanned and autonomous systems engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

2018

John Bambury is currently assigned to II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

On February 15, Timothy Burkhart graduated from the United States Navy’s Officer Candidate School, earning his commission as an officer and achieving the rank of an Ensign

(O-1) in the United States Navy. He is now training to be a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) in San Diego, California.

Christopher Engel graduated from Syracuse University in May 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering. “I am currently working at Collins Aerospace where I was recently promoted to cell lead engineer,” he writes.

2019

David Carames graduated from Penn State in May 2023. Earlier this year, he began working as a manufacturing/process engineer at Barnes Aerospace.

In June 2023, Matthew DuBois, the 2018-19 Cadet Colonel, was commissioned as a Naval nuclear submariner ensign in Washington, D.C. Lieutenant Colonel Roy Campbell, USA (Ret.), Xavier’s former Senior Army Instructor, traveled from California to Washington for the commissioning ceremony. DuBois is currently studying at the Naval Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina. “He stays in constant touch with his Xavier brothers and attributes his success to his amazing education at Xavier,” writes his mom, Dawn.

FRANCIS CREIGHTON ’90

BY BRIAN MCCABE P’23

They say timing is everything. When Xavier launched its planned giving challenge in memory of Jim Keenan, S.J., it came at the perfect time for Francis Creighton ’90 and his wife, Julia. They had just started the process of updating their estate plans and seized the opportunity to be the first to join the challenge. Francis, who serves as president and CEO of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, referred to it as “a lucky coincidence that motivated us to do something meaningful for the young men of Xavier.”

Planned giving opens up the potential for alumni and friends to make a future gift that reflects their core values, deepens their relationship with Xavier, and leaves a unique legacy. For Francis and Julia Creighton, it is also a chance to make a more sizable impact than they could make during their lifetime. Describing their desire, Francis said: “We want to make sure that intelligent, motivated students continue to have access

to the opportunities that I enjoyed. Things are different from when I attended Xavier, but the values that influenced my life, such as cura personalis, remain the heart of a Xavier education. The commitment is real. That’s why giving back is a priority for us, now and in the future.”

He made it clear that planned gifts are not a replacement for his consistent yearly support. “A Xavier education is rooted in enduring values, but it is also an evolving experience. It teaches young men to meet the moment of their modern world, even as it changes. For Xavier to meet the needs of a 21st century Jesuit education in New York City, our giving must be flexible, creative, and consistent as well. An estate gift is not a substitute for donating to the Annual Fund. They are complementary acts of generosity.”

Xavier’s planned giving challenge in memory of Fr. Keenan, who served as Xavier’s 29th President and 46th Headmaster, invites alumni and friends to consider making a lasting impact on 16th Street through an estate gift. Thanks to the generosity

of the Creightons and many others, Xavier is nearly one-third of the way toward achieving its goal of adding 67 new members to the Larkin Legacy Society (celebrating those who remember Xavier in a will, trust, or through another legacy gift) during the 2024 calendar year. That would be one new member for each year that Fr. Keenan was a Jesuit.

or a beneficiary designation to a retirement plan asset. If you have been thinking about making arrangements for a planned gift, the timing may be right for you to act. If you have already remembered Xavier in your will, please let us know so that we can thank you and welcome you into the Larkin Legacy Society.

“Xavier has a tremendous history, but what’s really exciting is its capacity to develop men for others who will shape the future.”

Every planned gift, no matter the size or type, makes a powerful statement and ensures that 16th Street remains a proving ground for tomorrow’s leaders. As Francis Creighton said, “Xavier has a tremendous history, but what’s really exciting is its capacity to develop men for others who will shape the future.” These gifts have no minimum requirement and can take a simple form, such as a bequest through a will or trust, a gift of life insurance,

To learn more about how to make a continuing gift to Xavier in your estate or financial plans, please contact Brian McCabe P’23, Director of Annual and Planned Giving, at mccabeb@xavierhs.org or 212-924-7900, ext. 1617.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PLANNED GIVING AND THE KEENAN CHALLENGE

A CELEBRATION OF CHRIS STEVENS ’83 AND XAVIER FOOTBALL

April 26, 2024 • Xavier High School

1. Brian Rivera ’02, Joe Sweeney ’85 P’23, Simon Young ’90, and Mike Tolkin ’85. 2. Denise and Rocco Iacovone ’62 with Carolyn and Chris Stevens ’83.

3. Fr. Daniel Gatti, S.J. ’59 with Craig Scardapane ’08. 4. A football signed by the 2023 varsity football team. 5. James Johnson ’25, Conor Gangemi ’25, and Ethan Rosa ’25. 6. Eamonn Matthews ’15, Magic Washington, and Teddy Boateng ’15. 7. Jack Raslowsky, Rich Nolan ’83, and Jim Cuddihy ’60. 8. Bruce Caulfield ’73 P’26, Elliot Sedgewick ’27, and Zachary Sedgewick ’25. 9. Kevin Fitzpatrick ’13, Chris Stevens ’83, Joseph Maratea ’19, and Kevin Connolly ’19. 10. Rebecca Armstrong P’04 ’07, Tony Paolozzi, and William Armstrong P’04 ’07.

2020

Last fall, Luca D’Ambrosio experienced a clinical immersion with the United States Military Academy’s men’s ice hockey team alongside their sports medicine staff. D’Ambrosio was responsible for everyday medical coverage of the hockey team for the first half of the season. He also worked alongside the national champion University of Michigan’s football sports medicine staff during the team’s 2023 fall camp. Following his graduation from Quinnipiac University this spring, D’Ambrosio traveled to Tampa to work alongside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ sports medicine staff for the summer. This fall, he will return to Quinnipiac University to earn his doctorate in physical therapy.

In March, Martin Marraccino was honored with the Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar Award at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The award celebrates the top 1% of undergraduate students who achieve academic excellence while also giving back to the community through civic or volunteer work, by conducting research, or being engaged in a co-op or work in their field of study. In turn, RIT honored the teacher Marraccino identified as having most inspired him, Michael

Chiafulio P’23 ’27, who traveled to Rochester to celebrate the dual honor. While there, Chiafulio and Marraccino enjoyed a meal with several other young Sons of Xavier.

2021

During his freshman year at Babson College, William Coppa established the Babson Boxing Club. He currently serves as president, while his Xavier classmate Fuad Ahemedin serves as vice president. The pair were instrumental in founding the Xavier Boxing Club several years ago. “During my junior year at Xavier, I participated in the Xavier Boxing bout and it was a dream of mine to host a similar event,” Coppa writes. “As juniors at Babson, Fuad and I recently organized our own exhibition match within the club on April 12. We pitched our idea to Babson and received over $6,000 from the school government association to organize this event. Drawing in a crowd of over 200 attendees, situated just 20 minutes away from campus, the event also captured the attention of more than 90 viewers via the livestream. The evening turned out to be a resounding success with six fights organized, all contributing to fundraising for the local charity, Camp Starfish.”

2022

2022 Block X winner Nicholas Bruno of the Penn State Rugby Nittany Lions helped capture the 2024 Big 10 Sevens Tournament at the University of Notre Dame. Penn State defeated Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan again for the title.

Sean Richter was named one of National Collegiate Rugby’s 2023 All-Americans. He is a student at the Catholic University of America.

2023

Matthew McCabe attended World Youth Day 2023, a worldwide Catholic festival to celebrate the universal Church in Lisbon, Portugal. He was joined by his sister Maggie, a rising senior at the Notre Dame School of Manhattan.

1. Luca D’Ambrosio ’20.

2. Leo Catalano ’20, Michael Chiafulio P’23 ’27, Damian Delfino ’20, Jimmy McGovern ’22, Albert Hynes ’22, Nick Seol ’20, Sebastian Arroyo ’22, Martin Marraccino ’20, Michael Ackerman ’20, Ivan Mena ’20, Alex Velez ’20, and Noah Makin ’20 enjoyed dinner together in Rochester.

3. Fuad Ahemedin ’21, second from left, and William Coppa ’21, second from right, at Babson College.

4. Nicholas Bruno ’22 and the Penn State Rugby Nittany Lions.

5. Matthew McCabe ’23 with his sister, Maggie.

TEDDY DROSEROS ’06

BY DAVID ORLANDO ’17

Growing up in New York, it can be hard to stay grounded when the city is constantly demanding your attention. For Teddy Droseros ’06, this experience would become the foundation of Grateful Peoples, a nonprofit he launched in 2017 to encourage everyone to incorporate gratitude into their daily routine.

“I was living in New York City, and I was questioning how I was spending my time every day,” Droseros recalled. “I came across this idea of keeping a gratitude journal and potential health benefits, so I just started doing it.”

What began in an Astoria coffee shop as a single notebook has since blossomed into a thriving nonprofit. Droseros’ work garnered national

discerning how to recognize God’s love in all things have been at the forefront since our inception.

“The idea of being a man for others, you definitely hear that a lot,” Droseros explained. “In terms of Grateful Peoples, my whole approach is just give as much as you can and then it will come back to you. And I know giving is a big part of the spirit at Xavier.”

This hypothesis quickly proved itself to be true in the homeroom of Droseros’ former physics teacher, Alex Lavy.

end with Lavy. Droseros recounted how an internship he secured with the help of another former teacher, Kevin Cuddihy ’86, eventually led him to the hedge fund that has since become Grateful Peoples’ biggest supporter. “Looking back, it all came through a connection from Xavier, which is kind of crazy,” he said.

As he reflected on Grateful Peoples’ beginnings in classroom 3L1, Droseros said, “I just remember sitting there thinking: ‘This is what I’m going to be doing for the next

“My whole approach is just give as much as you can and then it will come back to you. And I know giving is a big part of the spirit at Xavier.”

attention when he was interviewed by David Begnaud for a segment on CBS Mornings in the summer of 2022. To date, Grateful Peoples has distributed more than 22,000 journals and worked with as many students in schools across the United States, Canada, and soon Mexico, too. Of his desire to focus on schools, Droseros said, “I was in my early 20s when I was introduced to the idea of keeping a gratitude journal. But what if I was 10 or 15 years old? How far would my mind have grown?”

This leap did not happen overnight, though, and when Droseros needed to test the idea in a classroom he looked no further than 16th Street. The program seemed like a natural extension of Xavier’s curriculum, where gratitude and

“The first surprise was how willingly students [journaled about gratitude]. I never had to fight anyone on it,” Lavy said. As the weeks rolled on, the impacts of daily journaling became apparent. “It leads to a more generous view of the world,” Lavy concluded. “Taking a moment to step back, and specifically to look for where you have been finding gratitude, it reorients you.”

One of Grateful Peoples’ guiding principles is that human connection is our most powerful tool for making ideas happen. Nothing demonstrates this more than the organization’s ties to the Xavier community, which do not begin and

phase of my life.’ It was a really cool and powerful moment. The pilot program at Xavier taught me that there’s something to this, and that gratitude is really powerful.”

Droseros told Xavier Magazine that his ultimate goal is to get the program incorporated into public school curriculums, so that entire cities of kids can benefit from the practice of daily gratitude. To learn more and support his work, visit the Grateful Peoples website ( gratefulpeoples.com) and social media pages. And keep an eye out, because gratitude journals could start appearing in New York City public schools in the not-sodistant future.

GOLDEN KNIGHTS LUNCHEON

May

3, 2024 • Xavier High School

1. Ken Sidlowski ’71 P’05, Thomas Dolan ’27, Blake Paret ’26, and Tim Mulry ’71. 2. Peter Lisi ’70, Tom Ribaudo ’70, and Ken Boller, S.J. 3. Charles Walsh ’66 speaks with Patrick O’Brien ’66. 4. John Vanore ’72, Tom Healey ’72, and Tom McDonnell ’73. 5. Fr. Daniel Murphy ’65, John Laffey ’65, Jim Rogers ’65, and Roger Mooney ’65. 6. Bob McGuirl ’70, Tom Mulry ’71, Bob Bennett ’70, John McGroarty ’70, and Dave McGroarty ’68. 7. Ed Matthews ’72 and Nick Scerbo ’72 chat with Harry Zeller ’24.

50TH REUNION

May 4, 2024

• Xavier High School

1. Neil McCarthy ’74. 2. Steve Barry ’74, Ken Boller, S.J., and Margarita Li. 3. Tom Grosso ’74, Gregory Byrnes ’74, Mike Nardolilli ’74, Richard Calangelo ’74, and Paul Shahbazian ’74. 4. Steve Barry ’74 and Mike Handal ’74. 5. Tom Pomposelli ’74, Carey O’Connor ’74, and Peter Colao ’74. 6. Betsy and Bruce Giaimo ’74. 7. Pat Cavanagh ’74, Louis Dramis ’74, Kevin McLaughlin ’74, Milagros Alchermes, and Chris Alchermes ’74. 8. Mike Munns ’74, Rich Scheller ’74, Allan Quinde ’74, and Tom Pomposelli ’74. 9. Dave Ryan ’74 and his wife, Vivienne.

IAN ’24 AND VANCE

KUHNER

’90 P’24

BY ERIC KREBS ’17

Brigadier General Vance Kuhner ’90 P’24 always knew he wanted to serve his country. And when, as a boy, he first saw Xavier’s Regiment march down Fifth Avenue in the Columbus Day Parade, he knew the place would provide the foundation for his life of service.

“I just thought it was the coolest thing, having a high school with a military program,” said Kuhner. “Xavier was the only school I wanted to go to.”

While a student at Xavier, Kuhner climbed the ranks of the JROTC, working his way up to the rank of cadet major and commanding Charlie Company in the Second Battalion. “I had Major Ron Grandel, a Vietnam vet, who was the Senior Army Instructor. He was instrumental in my leadership development, and Master Sergeant Jim Jones, too. They really spent a lot of time on me, made me a better leader and a more patriotic American.”

Kuhner’s leadership didn’t end upon graduation. He enrolled in the ROTC program at Fordham University, completing his first two

years in the Naval program before transferring to the Army. After Fordham, he graduated from the Armor Basic Officer Leader Course, then went on to study criminal justice and law in graduate school, working as a prosecutor in the Queens District Attorney’s office.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Kuhner was called up to duty. He was deployed in Afghanistan and Kuwait in 2002, then Iraq in 2003, where he led the Army’s Military Police unit in Baghdad, one of the first in the country post-invasion. “It was a crazy, crazy year of my life,” said Kuhner. “The lessons I learned at Xavier—self-discipline, integrity— paid dividends when I was in Iraq.”

In the 20 years since, Kuhner has held a number of leadership positions in the Army Reserve, where he specializes in military intelligence and currently serves as the Deputy Commanding General for the Military Police of Fort Meade, Maryland. In November 2022, when Vance was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the Army Reserve, he chose to have his promotion ceremony

take place where his life of service began—on 16th Street, at Xavier.

All the while, he has also maintained a civilian career in Customs and Border Protection. For the last eight years, he has served as the Special Agent in Charge, overseeing professional standards and internal investigations for CBP’s northeast region. “I basically have two full-time careers going on,” said Kuhner.

When another student dropped out at the last minute, he filled the role of Master of Ceremonies at this year’s Military Ball. “It was something I jumped on because public speaking is something I’m going to continue doing throughout my life,” Ian said. “I went through my speech probably seven times, revising it with my dad.”

For Vance Kuhner, seeing his son embark on a career of service, and

“When I see the Regiment on St. Patrick’s Day or Columbus Day, and he’s wearing the uniform, it gives me great pride,” said Kuhner. “At the same time, I get to watch him trying to iron the uniform after it’s been rumpled in the bag, getting your shoes scuffed on the train—the same struggles I had, and his grandfather had.”

In reality, he has a third: fatherhood. Ian Kuhner ’24 has followed in the footsteps of his father and maternal grandfather, Bill Sheehan ’47, to 16th Street. “It’s a long tradition,” he said. Like his father, Ian—a cadet major in the JROTC and member of the Raiders—has always had a desire to serve. He plans to enroll in the ROTC program at the University of Scranton this fall and work in criminal justice thereafter.

For Ian, JROTC has already provided opportunities to lead.

having it begin at Xavier, has been a source of pride—and amusement.

“When I see the Regiment on St. Patrick’s Day or Columbus Day, and he’s wearing the uniform, it gives me great pride,” said Kuhner. “At the same time, I get to watch him trying to iron the uniform after it’s been rumpled in the bag, getting your shoes scuffed on the train—the same struggles I had, and his grandfather had.”

“It’s great to have that legacy,” said Kuhner. “The big and small and everything in between.”

Milestones

Weddings

Vinny Spampinato ’70 married Suzanne Mitchell at Cliff’s Elbow Room in Jamesport, Long Island, on February 11.

Paul Malon ’73 married Andreana Voudouris on February 12.

Ray Otton ’00 married Maureen McNicholas on July 1, 2023. The late Fr. Jim Keenan, S.J. celebrated the wedding.

Michael C. O’Brien ’02 married Megan Fullagar on September 16, 2023 at the W Loft in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Joseph Clavin ’03 married Christine Young at Housing Works Bookstore in SoHo on January 20. Many Xavier alumni attended the festivities.

Births

Jim Menendez ’81 and his wife, Mary Ellen, welcomed their first grandchild, a girl named Maeve Eleanore Stringer, on March 2.

John McNally ’90 and his wife, Aurora, welcomed a baby girl, Mariana, on March 25.

Steve Elman ’05 and his wife welcomed a daughter, Matilda Ropiak-Elman, in September 2023.

Peter O’Neill ’08 and his wife welcomed their first child, a girl named Lyla Grace, on December 24, 2022.

John McNally ’90 with his wife, Aurora, and daughter, Mariana.

Peter O’Neill ’08 with his wife and daughter, Lyla Grace.

Maureen McNicholas and Ray Otton ’00.

Megan Fullagar and Michael C. O’Brien ’02.

Suzanne Mitchell and Vinny Stampinato ’70.

Christine Young and Joseph Clavin ’03.

In Memoriam

Alumni

William Hourigan ’45, 1/17/24

Hon. George J. Farrell, Jr. ’48, 12/11/23

Francis M. Birkmeyer ’51, 2/20/24

Dr. Gerald Lawrence ’51, 1/9/24

Dr. Robert Fabricant ’52, 3/22/24

Russell V. Ingram ’52, 12/31/23

Francis J. Murphy ’52, 3/17/24

William Bennett ’55, 2/15/24

Patrick J. Rouse ’56, 1/31/24

Frank J. Ruth ’57, 2/26/22

Deacon Roy Smith ’59, 5/18/23

Francis Silvestri ’60, 4/6/24

Thomas Campbell ’64, 1/23/24

Accursio “Gus” Sclafani ’64, 7/1/20

Steven Russack ’69, 2/16/24

Anthony Scala, Jr. ’70, 3/28/24

Marc Wuensch ’70, 3/19/24

Stephen Bratichak ’76, 11/23

Andrew Rohoza ’78, 2/7/24

Parents

Jacqueline Czarnecki P’65, mother of Jonathan Czarnecki ’65, 7/14/23

Robert J. Harrison P’76, father of David Harrison ’76, 4/11/24

Marilyn Cusanelli P’84, mother of Pasquale Cusanelli ’84, 3/16/24

William C. Gartner, Jr. P’84, father of William Gartner III ’84, 2/7/24

Joseph Marcianti P’86, father of Joseph Marcianti ’86, 2/11/24

Herbert Higgins P’87, father of Patrick Higgins ’87, 3/15/24

Mary Comer P’90 ’92 ’02, mother of Thomas Comer ’90, John Comer ’92, and Daniel Comer ’02, 1/17/24

Jessica Castillo P’94, mother of Socrates Castillo ’94, 3/28/24

Gerard Frohnhoefer P’95, father of Thomas Frohnhoefer ’95, 10/5/21

Luke La Valle, Jr. P’98, father of David La Valle ’98, 4/30/24

John Traugott P’98 ’99, father of Thomas Traugott ’98 and John Traugott ’99, 3/24/24

Anthony Fortuna P’07 ’08, father of Anthony Fortuna ’07 and Daniel Fortuna ’08, 1/7/24

Kevin Sullivan P’13, father of Robert Sullivan ’13, 12/4/23

Elizabeth Kuranowski P’17, mother of Kevin Kuranowski ’17, 2/21/24

Grandparents

Marylou Moran, grandmother of Christopher Gushée ’18 and William Gushée ’20, 4/30/24

Spouses

Catherine Duffy, wife of William Duffy ’59, 1/27/24

Melissa Waldron Czarnecki, wife of Jonathan Czarnecki ’65, 2/18/24

Faculty/Family

James Bowes, S.J., 3/9/24

John Foley P’77 ’79 ’81 ’84 ’86, longtime Xavier faculty member and father of Patrick Foley ’77, John Foley ’79, Martin Foley ’81, Christopher Foley ’84, and Michael Foley ’86, 2/1/24

Maeve Eleanore Stringer, granddaughter of Jim Menendez ’81.

Steve Elman ’05 with his daughter, Matilda.

Nostra Aetate in Our Time

By FR. DANIEL MURPHY ’65

Fr. Murphy is a retired priest of the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, and serves as an adjunct to Xavier’s Office of Campus Ministry.

In March, I had the honor of journeying with 14 Xavier students, three Xavier staff members, and Tom Maher ’80, the sponsor of the Holocaust Studies program, to Warsaw and Krakow, Poland, and the camps at AuschwitzBirkenau. To witness and be a part of the openness, attentiveness, and commitment of these young men truly touched my heart and gave me hope for the future in their commitment to help create a world beyond discrimination, prejudice, and hatred.

As one of the adults on the journey, I was asked by Jack Raslowsky to speak about interfaith relationships, the connection of Judaism and Catholicism, and to be available for prayer and liturgy. I spoke of the landmark Roman Catholic statement of the Second Vatican Council, Nostra Aetate, commonly known as the “Document on the Relationship of the Church with Non-Christian Religions,” published in October 1965. The bulk of the document deals with our relationship with our Jewish brothers and sisters and repudiates anti-Semitism.

In an article on the 50th anniversary of the document, Jonathan Greenblatt, appearing in Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, wrote, “Nostra Aetate overturned centuries of the ‘teaching of contempt’: namely, that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus and therefore, they had been rejected by God and their covenant revoked.”

We just have to look at the centuries of hatred, death, exclusion, and discrimination Jews have suffered to see how this “teaching of contempt” prevailed.

During World War II, Pope John XXIII as Cardinal Angelo Roncalli served as the Vatican ambassador to Turkey and at that time worked tirelessly to rescue Jews. It was his concern to end what he had called centuries of “contemptuous” Church teaching about the Jews, and he brought that vision to Vatican II.

The affirmation that “God holds the Jews most dear” and the call for mutual understanding inaugurated a new era of positive relationship and engagement that decades before would have been inconceivable.

The following are the seven major points of Nostra Aetate:

1. Repudiated the longstanding “deicide charge” by declaring “the Jews should not be held responsible or rejected and accursed for the death of Christ.”

2. Stressed the religious bond and spiritual legacy shared by the Church and Jews. As Villanova theologian Massimo Faggioli states, “This is theologically revolutionary. In the Catholic mindset of many, Jesus is Catholic.”

3. Strongly stated that God and Jews still abide in the deep covenant established through Abraham. In the words of Pope John Paul II, “The Jews are the people of God of the Old Testament, never revoked by God.”

4. Deplored “all hatred, persecutions, and displays of anti-Semitism.”

5. Stressed the need for “accurate biblical interpretation and religious education” lest in preaching or catechesis we teach anything not in accord with the “spirit of Christ.”

6. Urged Catholics to collaborate with Jews in biblical and theological inquiry and friendly discussions.

7. Intentionally expressed “no desire for Jews to become Christians.” It states: “Together with the prophets and the apostles the Church awaits the day, known to God alone, when all peoples will call on God with one voice and serve God shoulder to shoulder.’’

As former America editor Thomas Reese, S.J., now of the National Catholic Reporter, said, “Nostra Aetate recognized there are positive elements in all religions and that through interreligious dialogue, stereotypes and prejudices can be overcome.”

I truly believe the young men who journeyed to Poland in March grasped these lessons and will be true messengers of healing and unity, not only in Jewish-Christian relations but among all peoples of faith.

On the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, Pope Francis said, “From indifference and opposition we have turned to cooperation and good will. From enemies and strangers, we have become friends and brothers and sisters.”

From the Archives 1952

A careful study of Shakespeare’s works has been a rite of passage on 16th Street for generations. In December 1952, Xavier’s Dramatic Guild translated its knowledge of the Bard into a masterful production of Macbeth, wowing audiences with what the Review called “first rate theatre: a powerful drama by a classical stylist.”

Playing the title role was future Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ’53 (above right), a Dramatic Guild veteran who “handled the role of Macbeth with the proper depth, vigor, and emotion,” the Review noted in a front-page article.

John Gallagher ’55 (above left) “ably projected both the meaning and cadence of Shakespeare’s superb poetry as Lady Macbeth,” the paper added, while Patrick Farrelly ’53 played “Duncan, complete good, all that Macbeth never could be.”

Other alumni of note in the cast were future Xavier Hall of Famers Christopher O’Sullivan ’54 (playing the Porter), who later died a hero’s death in Vietnam, and Vincent Cooke, S.J. ’54 (playing Old Siward), future president of Canisius College and provincial of the New York Province of the Society of Jesus.

A Transformative Journey

Students

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walk through Warsaw’s Old Town during the Holocaust Studies program’s inaugural trip to Poland.