25 minute read
PROFILES OF GENEROSITY
Perseverance & Achievement:
THE SONS OF XAVIER CENTER OPENS
Penny Lii and Jim Haybyrne ’62
More than four years after Jim Haybyrne ’62 first expressed a desire to make a special, lasting gift to Xavier at his 55th reunion—after four years of meticulous planning, careful renovation, and the colossal complications of a global pandemic—the Sons of Xavier Center in honor of Rev. John Courtney Murray, S.J. 1920, that special, lasting gift, was officially blessed and dedicated. On September 15, 2021, the night of the dedication, Xavier seemed to come alive once again; alumni, students, and friends flooded the Church of St. Francis Xavier and then the Colonel Donald G. Cook, USMC ’52 Library, part of the Sons of Xavier Center. It was just the second major in-person event held on 16th Street since January 2020. Those in attendance heard stories of Donald Cook’s courage and John Courtney Murray’s contributions to American Catholicism. They also heard about the deep, abiding generosity of Jim Haybyrne and Penny Lii Haybyrne. “This space stands as a testament to the vision of Jim Haybyrne ’62 and his wife, Penny Lii,” Xavier President Jack Raslowsky P’16 said that evening. “What was constant from the moment Jim, Penny, Mark, and I first spoke about this project was Jim’s belief in and commitment to this institution, Xavier. … Jim, I cannot thank you and Penny enough—yes, for this end result, but even more so for the care and commitment to Xavier, for staying the course, for the great contributions in word and deed to the common good of Xavier High School.”
Four years earlier, Raslowsky and Mark Mongelluzzo P’25, Xavier’s Vice President for Development, first walked the Haybyrnes through the spaces that would become the Sons of Xavier Center. Jim and Penny immediately saw the possibilities. “From an architectural point of view, Penny and I loved the configuration of the space, in particular the Jesuit Library,” Jim said. “We also discussed the fact that within Xavier there was not a place dedicated to Xavier itself and its long history. We now celebrate our 175th anniversary, and it seemed a wonderful way to tell that story—a place about Xavier. And we also knew that there
had to be wonderful stories of the people who were students here or who taught here, people from whom lessons could be learned and passed to future generations. We knew that a space that told stories about people and events is something that would last for a very long time.”
Jim and Penny brought significant restoration experience to the project, making their collaboration with Raslowsky, Mongelluzzo, and Margaret Kittinger and her team at Beyer Blinder Belle—veterans of Xavier’s Fernandez-Duminuco Hall construction and Student Chapel restoration—particularly fruitful. The Haybyrnes loved debating ideas and infused the Sons of Xavier Center with the principles of feng shui, reflecting the four themes of remembrance, learning, gratitude, and comfort.
“Over the years, Penny and I restored our home in Virginia, which was built in 1802 and has existed for every U.S. president except Washington and Adams—so it has a wonderful long history tied to the United States,” Jim explained. “As such, it has many wonderful stories to tell. After we purchased the property and renovated it, it was registered as a national historic trust and is now a protected property. We decided to not only restore the property itself but then to tell stories about people who had lived here since 1802.”
In order to preserve the histories of those people, including enslaved Americans, the Haybyrnes published a booklet, Within These Walls. It tells stories of Thomas Swann, a future governor of Maryland, who was born in the house; of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who was a frequent visitor of its second owner, Henry Daingerfield; of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, who bought the house in 1899 and converted it into St. Mary’s Academy, a grammar and high school for young women.
“It was our love of architecture and history that led us to think that a similar gift could be given to Xavier,” Penny Haybyrne said.
Throughout the four-year project, she was particularly impressed by the tenor of debates about the space. “I’m in business, so I know when people have different opinions, they fight,” she said with a laugh. “This project was very civilized. I’m guessing that’s part of the spirit and education at Xavier—to work with people in a very polite way. That impressed me. I think this project also shows that when you have a very good team, things just come out right.”
Both Jim and Penny were inspired to honor Sons of Xavier and their families in large part due to the example and influence of their own families.
“When we discussed naming the space, we wanted to tell the story of Xavier through people who had been very successful and achievement-oriented yet had to overcome significant obstacles to accomplish things in their lives. We wanted that message because both Penny and I come from families who had to persevere to be successful,” Jim said. “In Penny’s case, her family suffered tremendously during the so-called Cultural Revolution in China. One of her aunts was beaten to death by the Marxist Red Guards for her political beliefs, and other members of the family were relegated to living for over 13 years in caves in China because of their Christian beliefs. To this day, before every meal, a Christian song is sung, the same song the family learned in the caves decades before. Yet they persevered and succeeded against the odds.”
“In terms of perseverance, my family story was similar,” he continued. “My great-grandfather, Patrick Haybyrne, was an Irish patriot convicted of felony treason against the Crown for his efforts for Irish independence. He spent two years in hard labor at the infamous Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin before being released and making his way to the United States. It took him 12 years to get his legal citizenship and he became a proud American citizen, still yearning for yet never seeing a free Ireland. He died in 1900 and was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Long Island, on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. On Christmas Eve 2020, I was able to bring closure to his story when I became an Irish citizen. I saw the free Ireland that he laid the foundation for but didn’t see. Perseverance.”
The Haybyrnes made sure to honor their families in deeply personal ways in the Sons of Xavier Center. A plaque notes that the space is dedicated to Jim’s parents, Aloysius V. and Eileen M. Haybyrne P’60 ’62, and his brother, Bill Haybyrne ’60.
“I wanted to honor my parents because of the incredible hard work and sacrifice they made in order to send me and my brother, Bill, to
At the Sons of Xavier Center dedication in September 2021, Jim Haybyrne '62 and President Jack Raslowsky P'16 posed with Xavier cadets and other student leaders.
Xavier,” Jim said. “They were active but not intrusive participants in the school’s life. They were at our sports events, every Regimental Review, watched every parade up Fifth Avenue. My brother was and is a role model for me. Along with my father, he taught me how to think and how to express myself in writing and in speaking. My mom taught me to see humor in life and to use it to communicate ideas—a perfect blend of wit and wisdom in our family. Most of my wonderful teachers at Xavier like Mr. Finnegan, Fr. Taylor, and Fr. Aracich tried desperately to get me to use more wisdom than humor. I think they eventually settled for 50/50!”
A rare map in Cook Library, drawn in China by Rev. Ferdinand Verbiest, S.J. in 1674, honors Penny Haybyrne and her family from China and Taiwan. “Her natural father, Li Huang, was a pilot in the Republic of China Air Force and died in an aircraft accident when Penny was only 2 years old,” Jim noted. “Her mom, Tsui Tung Hai (Christine), remarried a few years later and Penny was further raised by her mom and Hsiang Chun Yeh (Stephen), her stepfather. All three of her family are now honored as well.”
When they learned about Donald Cook and John Courtney Murray, Jim and Penny Haybyrne immediately felt connected to their perseverance and achievements, “hallmarks of a Xavier education.”
As a prisoner of war in Vietnam, Donald Cook’s strength and care for his fellow prisoners earned him lasting renown. He died in captivity at age 33. “Repeatedly assuming more than his share of responsibility for their health, Colonel Cook willingly and unselfishly put the interests of his comrades before that of his own well-being and, eventually, his life,” his posthumous Medal of Honor citation reads. “Giving more needy men his medicine and drug allowance while constantly nursing them, he risked infection from contagious diseases while in a rapidly deteriorating state of health. This unselfish and exemplary conduct, coupled with his refusal to stray even the slightest from the Code of Conduct, earned him the deepest respect from not only his fellow prisoners, but his captors as well.”
John Courtney Murray, S.J., the towering American theologian, wrote widely about the intersection between Catholic theology and American public life. In the 1950s, church officials prevented him from writing on these topics for a time, but by 1960—the year John F. Kennedy was elected the nation’s first Catholic president—Murray had published We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition. That same year, he landed on the cover of Time. Later that decade, just a few years before his untimely death, he made significant contributions at the Second Vatican Council, especially to Dignitatis Humanae, the Declaration on Religious Freedom.
The Haybyrnes are delighted that the two conference rooms in the Sons of Xavier Center—the Dr. Franklin N. Caesar ’72 Conference Room and the Faith and E. Peter Corcoran ’46 Family Room—also honor members of the Xavier community who persevered through adversity and enjoyed significant achievements. Dr. Caesar is a legendary former teacher, coach, and assistant headmaster; over the course of decades, the Corcorans quietly gave transformational gifts to Xavier, including the largest estate gift in Xavier history upon Peter’s 2016 passing.
“Perseverance and achievement are also the hallmarks of the foundation of America,” Jim said. “We thought that would be a great story to tell using the old Jesuit Library and adjacent spaces as a story about Xavier, within Xavier—a place that honors all our Xavier families who also persevered and accomplished so much for all their Sons.”
On December 17, 2021, three months after the dedication of the Sons of Xavier Center, Jim Haybyrne returned to 16th Street with Penny. It was her first time seeing the completed space in person, having missed the dedication due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in Hong Kong, where the Haybyrnes spend most of the year.
She watched the September dedication via livestream, rising at 5 a.m. to do so, but nothing compared to seeing the Sons of Xavier Center in person. “You feel the beauty of the place,” she said.
Both Haybyrnes noted their particular affection for the rare Verbiest map and the dramatic portrait of Donald Cook, whose eldest son, Chris, attended the dedication. “To meet Chris in person brought Don Cook’s whole story to life for me,” Jim reflected.
Now, nearly 64 years after he first set foot on 16th Street as a 13-year-old freshman, Jim Haybyrne has his eyes set on future generations of Xavier’s Sons. The past six decades have taken him to India with the Peace Corps, to the U.S. Air Force as a captain, around the world as a strategic management consultant, and, more than 30 years ago, on a plane from Taiwan to China—where he met Penny, the entrepreneur who became his close friend and later his wife.
He hopes the Sons of Xavier Center inspires students and alumni to explore, to challenge themselves, to persevere and achieve as he did, all with the winds of Xavier at their backs. “I hope it remains a very special place at Xavier,” Jim said, “a home to which all Sons may return for inspiration and learning. A place in which all our positive family stories may be told.”
He noted that his classmates helped refine those hopes, especially a core group who advised him on the naming and purpose of the center. “To this day I live in gratitude for their ever-present friendship,” Jim said of his lifelong friends, whom he met for an annual Christmas celebration the day after visiting Xavier with Penny. “The camaraderie is really amazing.”
Some years ago, Jim Haybyrne wrote a book titled Dream. Think. Become. Essays for the Mind of a Strategic Thinker. Through the Sons of Xavier Center project, he feels the book came to life.
“We had many meetings discussing and defining exactly what our dream was for the space,” he reflected. “We thought about it, then acted—and it became a reality.”
Providing equal opportunity
Tom Maher ’80
om Maher ’80 remembers Xavier basketball practice with coach Dr. Franklin Caesar ’72 P’00 like it was yesterday. Dr. Caesar was tough on the team, the good kind of tough. “I had to work very hard—in the classroom, outside the classroom, and on the court,” said Maher. The scrappy Xavier Knights were often outsized on the court, and while Dr. Caesar couldn’t make the boys grow, he could make them work. During practice, the team would run up and down Xavier’s many staircases until they were ready to collapse. “Dr. Caesar would always say to us: ‘If you guys are not up to it, there’s the door,’” Maher recalled. “He always challenged us to see if we had the mental and physical toughness.”
Maher never left. And over 40 years later, the values he learned at Xavier—faith, perseverance, and gratitude—haven’t left, either. From orientation to St. Patrick’s Cathedral to today, Maher’s life has been a lesson in what it means to live out Xavier’s core values.
Maher grew up in Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and, early on, he learned the value of education. His father, Bill Maher P’80, was in the banking industry and worked long hours to support his family, put Tom and his sister Mary Jane through school, and always have enough to pay it forward.
Tom’s mother, Jeanne P’80†, worked as an assistant in a number of public schools around Manhattan, including a school for hearingimpaired students and at one point, two schools at the same time: Norman Thomas High School for Business and Commercial Education during the day, and Washington Irving High School at night. “She had a passion for the kids and connecting with them,” Maher remembered. “She did it because she loved it.”
Jeanne passed away in 1993 at the age of 60, but the foundational values she imparted—namely, a steadfast belief in the necessity of service and the power of education—live on. Before her death, Jeanne was even able to pursue an education for herself, graduating from college in 1985, a year after Tom.
Off the court at Xavier, Tom Maher dedicated himself to his academics under the unwavering (albeit intimidating) guidance of his many teachers. “You knew better to never show up unprepared for Fr. Lux, Fr. Boller, or Mr. Scott or risk huge embarrassment,” he recalled.
TAt Holy Cross, Maher studied modern European history. After graduating in 1984, he worked in the banking and real estate finance business for 12 years, living in New York and Boston. In 1996, he transitioned into the real estate development industry, and in 2010, he and his wife, Nancy, moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where they now live and work. Despite his success in banking and real estate, Maher believes his most important work over the last two decades has been in the nonprofit sector. “The for-profit world has given me the opportunity to do the nonprofit work that I really love to do,” said Maher. “It’s a gift that I get to do this every day.” Maher has served on a multitude of nonprofit boards across industries, states, and continents. In 2008, he helped start the Beverly School of Kenya, a STEM-focused K-12 school outside of Nairobi. And in 2006, he helped found the Esperanza Academy, a grade 5-8 all-girls independent school in Lawrence, Massachusetts—a one-time mill town north of Boston that had become one of the state’s poorest cities by the 2000s. In 2006, when Esperanza first opened its doors, some 40% of Lawrence high schoolers dropped out before graduation. Today, Esperanza supports middle school girls throughout their high school and college years and has dramatically improved opportunities for academic and life successes for its mostly Latinx community. In the last decade, Maher has developed his own foundation— The Pisgah Investments Foundation—alongside Nancy, a former schoolteacher who now co-runs the foundation. Their foundation supports nonprofits in western North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina, including food banks, vaccine outreach programs, mental health programs, and child advocacy programs. Even with many accomplishments to his name, Maher still feels a responsibility to do more. “Life is full of challenges, and people have bigger challenges than I could ever imagine. It’s about providing equal opportunity for people to succeed so everyone has a chance to reach their potential.” Maher remains thankful for the strong foundation of faith and education that Xavier provided him. In 2003, he endowed the Jeanne R. Maher P’80 Memorial Scholarship to honor his mother, and in 2021 he decided to pay it forward once again through the Maher Family Scholarship, which will fund the education of future Sons of Xavier whose parents are educators. The scholarship is endowed by Maher on behalf of his parents, Jeanne and Bill Maher; his sister, Mary Jane Higgins, vice principal of The Epiphany School; his wife, Nancy Kendall Maher; and seven transformative Xavier educators who shaped his life and beliefs: James Keenan, S.J., Joseph Lux, S.J., Kenneth Boller, S.J., Dr. Franklin Caesar ’72 P’00, John Foley P’77 ’79 ’81 ’84 ’86, Brian Moroney, and James Scott P’79 ’84†.
A Long-Term Investment
Nancy and Luke La Valle P’98
Luke and Nancy La Valle P’98 believe firmly that a quality education, particularly a Catholic one, is one of the greatest gifts in life. Nancy attended St. Joan of Arc in Jackson Heights, then Dominican Academy in Manhattan and St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame, Indiana; Luke, St. Bonifice in Elmont and then La Salle Military Academy, Boston College, and
UMass for an MBA. It was important for Nancy and Luke that all three of their sons—Luke†, Michael, and David ’98—received the same, first at St. Ignatius Loyola School on the Upper East Side, then Regis for Luke and Michael and for David, their youngest,
Xavier. As Nancy noted, “For years we have made the support of
Catholic education our main philanthropic priority, giving what we can to support the Catholic schools that have impacted our lives.”
In the fall of 2020 they established and funded the Nancy and
Luke P. La Valle, Jr. P’98 Family Scholarship to help make a Xavier education accessible for students in need. For the La Valles, the scholarship was an important way to ensure that families situated as they were in the 1990s are provided the assistance needed to make a
Xavier education possible for their sons. “Xavier helped us years ago, and now we want to do our part,” Luke said. “It was a transformative experience for David, and we want other young men to have that experience.”
When Luke established American Capital Management, Inc. in 1980, all three of his sons were under the age of 3. It would take years for the firm to gain a secure footing, so Nancy worked as a senior human resources executive in both the profit and nonprofit world until the boys were in middle school. For years, Luke balanced his commitment to the firm and his family with his commitment to serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, where he eventually retired as a Lieutenant Colonel, Military Intelligence and served with the 101st Airborne Division and on the Army staff at the Pentagon.
In 1986, all three La Valle boys were introduced to the sport of fencing and would hone their skills in the junior fencing program (founded by their father) at the New York Athletic Club over the next decade and beyond. David proved to be most talented in this regard; a member of the cadet and the junior national teams, fencing would bring David to international competitions in Eastern and Western Europe and Canada throughout middle school and his time on 16th Street. Eventually, even the Olympics were a possibility.
The JROTC attracted David to Xavier and, when he applied in 1994, he scored well enough to earn a scholarship covering 80% of tuition. Over the next four years, the academics challenged him intellectually while the JROTC helped him build leadership skills and self-discipline. By the time he graduated from Xavier in 1998, he was headed to Stanford University to fence while on an ROTC scholarship. Injuries would eventually thwart David’s dream of representing the United States in Olympic competition, but he would have the opportunity to serve his country nonetheless in the Army. Not long after he graduated from Stanford in 2002, the United States commenced actions in Iraq. David, a newly commissioned Army Second Lieutenant in Air Defense Artillery, coordinated with foreign militaries in the Pacific on missile defense measures and worked on the Army’s first weapons system designed to identify and destroy incoming mortar and rocket rounds and deployed that new weapons system to Camp Anaconda, Iraq. After fulfilling his commitment to the Army, David, by then a Captain, left in 2006.
Throughout his time at Stanford, David had interned for American Capital Management over the summer and began to develop his investing skills as a research analyst. Even his deployment to Iraq did not squelch his passion; often, calls home to his parents from the front involved discussions of his portfolio performance with his father. After working for Morgan Stanley as an analyst, at the urging of his father, David eventually came back to work at American Capital Management. Over the course of the last 13 years his investing acumen and leadership skills have proven to be great assets to the firm. He now serves as managing director, portfolio manager, and co-chief investment officer.
For the La Valle family, patience is key to their investment strategy—in their work, in their sport, and in their philanthropy. American Capital Management invests for growth in innovative, quality small and medium-size companies over the long term. Anyone who has ever held a saber in his hands knows that focus, patience, and attacking at the right moment to strike is key. Luke and Nancy see their investment in Xavier in much the same way. They are great long-term partners in the work of creating the next generation of young men of competence, conscience, and compassion—young men who leave 16th Street prepared to excel in all they do, to serve others where needed, and to lead wherever they find themselves.
A Firm Belief in Catholic Education
Mike & Carolyn Nicholson P’14 ’16
Nearly six years after their younger son’s Xavier graduation, Mike and Carolyn Nicholson P’14 ’16 find themselves more connected to Xavier than ever before.
Mike, who hails from upstate New York, and Carolyn, a Rockaway Beach, Queens native, began their tale together at Niagara University.
After their graduation, the college sweethearts found themselves in New York City. Mike began working in finance, while Carolyn taught at St. Anselm’s School in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. The two happily married and went on to begin their family in 1996, when their first son, Jake Nicholson ’14, was born. After Jake’s birth, Carolyn ended her teaching career to devote more time to supporting her new family. In 2000, Mike went on to work for
Limited Brands as Victoria’s Secret’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer. His career then took him to Ann Taylor in 2007, when he became the company’s CFO and COO. Since 2016, he has served in various roles on the leadership team at J.Crew—as CFO, interim CEO, and currently as COO. While Mike’s work as COO has him focused on the strategic, operational, and financial aspects of the global brand, Carolyn’s work as CEO of their household has her focused on supporting the family in whatever way necessary. The two have four children—Jake, Noah ’16, Hannah, and Sarah— and reside in Rockaway Beach, Queens. All four children are the beneficiaries of a Catholic education. Jake ultimately found his way to 16th Street in 2010. “We witnessed so much growth in Jake from year to year, and we even see how Xavier turned him into who he is now,” Carolyn reflected. After his Xavier graduation, Jake matriculated at Loyola University
Maryland, where he studied accounting. He then landed his first job as an audit assistant at Deloitte and earned his MBA in finance at St. John’s
University in December. He now works at Protiviti, a global consulting firm. Noah followed in Jake’s footsteps, beginning his Xavier career in 2012—the year Hurricane Sandy shook the lives of so many Sons, friends, and families of Xavier, specifically those in the Rockaways. After the storm, droves of students, faculty, and staff volunteered to clean up the neighborhoods most impacted. It was during this time that the Nicholson boys found themselves looking up to the inspiring leaders who walk Xavier’s halls. “They both had so many male and female role models at Xavier,”
Carolyn said. “Everyone was just so good to them, and it was especially evident during Sandy.” When asked who most significantly impacted the boys at Xavier, the
Nicholsons pointed to math teacher Cindy DeRose, guidance counselor
Regina Valinoti, Director of Student Activities Alicia Psillos, and former religion teacher Dr. Joseph Petriello, who currently serves as principal of Fordham Prep in the Bronx. “What was so great was that they also had such paternal role models on campus,” she added. “In a way, the faculty at Xavier nurtured them, understood them and where they were coming from, and were always there for them. There were, of course, rules and regulations, but we knew that would serve the boys well coming into the world—and it certainly has.”
Noah graduated from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire in 2020. He found his footing studying criminal justice in his college days and graduated from the New York Police Department Academy in June 2021. He is currently assigned to the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn.
“He is very good with every kind of person, and he learned so much of this from Xavier,” Carolyn said. “The school is representative of the world we live in today and shows you the world that you will live in one day. It shows you how to find a common ground with those around you.”
“It’s a wonderful institution that is all about faith, morals, ethics, and life,” Mike reflected. “The school’s population is reflective of what the world looks like, which is important. The ability to have an experience with people from all walks of life is an amazing opportunity. The boys are taught how to think. It’s not as much about the grades as it is about learning how to think and how to learn. The school really pushes this on students, and the boys were absolutely prepared to enter life after Xavier.”
Their sons are young adults making their way in the world now, but Mike and Carolyn still find themselves supporting Xavier in any way they can.
“We believe that giving back to where our kids grew, and continue to grow, is so important,” Carolyn said. “It was their home away from home during a very formative time in their lives.”
When they give to Xavier, the Nicholsons specifically choose to support the Annual Fund. “We allocate all of our gifts to Xavier’s Annual Fund,” Mike explained. “We let Xavier determine where our gifts are most needed at the time of giving.”
“We still give back because we’re continuing to hear the wonderful stories that are coming out of Xavier,” Carolyn added. “We value what our kids came out of school with—tremendous growth.”
That rings true in all areas of the Xavier experience for the Nicholsons.
“Academics, athletics, highly qualified teachers, service trips, retreats—the entire experience you get is one you can’t get anywhere else,” Mike said.
Their youngest daughter, Sarah, is a first-year student at the Notre Dame School of Manhattan—bringing the couple back to a high school setting they didn’t realize they missed so much. Their older daughter, Hannah, who currently studies finance at the University of Dayton, graduated from Notre Dame in 2018. “Much like Xavier, Notre Dame has been a home to us,” Carolyn said.
The Nicholsons are proud that Jake and Noah now give to Xavier as well, and they hope all their children give generously to the schools they called home throughout their adult lives.
“It’s important to continue giving,” Mike said. “We believe in Catholic education. The kids started in Catholic education when they were each 3 years old, and we hope that they can continue this with their own children in the future.”
