What a fantastic turnout today in the Carey Center to celebrate 25 years of women at Saint Vincent College and to kick off the 08-09 academic year. While it seemed the great majority of our students were in attendance – if you missed today’s gathering you missed out on a lot of fun (and prizes, like Steelers tickets for tomorrow night’s game, Nano Ipods, etc.).

Shari LoFasoWhitico, Anna Quinn Holloway, Marianne Reid Anderson, Dale Gabriel and Doug St. Clair of the Class of ’83 were there to re-enact the celebratory cake cutting (a photo which has been displayed in the Shack for years). It was great to have them back on campus – Doug hadn’t been here since 1991 (he lives in Florida) and so he couldn’t believe his eyes when he came on campus and saw how much his alma mater had grown.

In my remarks today I announced that one student dream will become a reality: Saint Vincent will be installing an artificial playing field on campus that will be fully lit and suitable for year-round activity. Our soccer teams will be able to compete on it and our students will be able to play night Frisbee there when the regular athletic fields are soggy. The Pittsburgh Steelers who have summer camp here on campus might like it, too, if they ever go to artificial turf, and if they don’t, they’ll continue to use the other three regulation fields that they currently use.

If you missed today’s event, we’ll have some video on the web soon.

I do want to correct a mistake I made in my remarks today. I was praising the leadership of Archabbot Paul Maher and President Fr. Gus Flood who presided over Saint Vincent College at the time of the admission of women. I should have cited the important role of Fr. Cecil Diethrich, Fr. Gus’ predecessor, who was instrumental in planning this historic change and is now deceased. In my confusion, I spoke of Fr. Gus as having gone home to God when in fact he is still very much alive and with us. My apologies to Fr. Gus as well as those in attendance who noticed my error, especially the monks who see Fr. Gus every day at the Archabbey and also know well the role that Fr. Cecil (and Fr. Campion who was interim president) played. When I returned to my seat from the podium, our Chancellor Archabbot Douglas politely informed me of my mistake and I’m glad he did. Again, my apologies.

Other than that, this first-time celebration went well (even though the change in weather forced our picnic inside - we’ll make sure the lines move more quickly next year).

The highlight for me was the opportunity to pause and pay tribute to a number of people who were instrumental in introducing coeducation at Saint Vincent and are still leaders on campus or in the Archabbey: Fr. Earl, who recruited the first class; Fr. Campion, who was Provost then; Brother Norman, who was Academic Dean; and of course, Archabbot Douglas who at that time was Chairman of the Psychology Department and Associate Dean.

A number of women also played key roles then…and now: Dean of Studies Alice Kaylor was the Dean of Co-Education; Celine Haas, our Registrar, was the first resident hall director for women; Kristen Zawacki, was then and is now, our women’s basketball coach; and Dr. Cynthia Walter who became a member of the faculty in 1983 and continues to be one of our best today. The applause for these individuals from the students served as a bridge between generations and an affirmation of the Chinese proverb: One generation plants the tree, another gets the shade.

I close this posting with thanks to the students who ran the program today: Stephanie Fitzgerald (Mistress of Ceremonies), SGA President Dan Brett, APB Chair Samantha Bowkley, Casie Poorbaugh (who spoke about Campus Ministry), and Kevin Lawrence (who shared his experiences in Calcutta and pitched our service learning opportunities). They did a great job.

Thanks, too, to the Bearcat Band and cheerleaders, the Saint Vincent Choir (led by Tom Octave), and all those who helped get our students situated in the Carey Center. What a great start to the year!