Firing of Coach Mulholland

To the Catholic University Community
There seems to be good deal of justified concern
regarding the status of the faculty at CUA as compared to
other universities (Faculty skeptical despite new task
force formed to examine salary gap 11/14/03). The
student body is well aware of the importance of
rewarding faculty and staff for the purpose of retaining the
highest quality educators and administrators. These high
standards are achieved by recruiting the best and the
brightest and, most importantly, keeping them. Years of
service provide the institution with stability and loyalty.
Loyalty is expected from the students and alumnae, as
many of you will discover in your alumnae years by
persistent letters for donations to your beloved alma
mater. CUA will always occupy a place in your heart.
Loyalty to an institution does not provide the means for it
to survive, but provides the means for it to thrive.
In addition to loyalty from its students, successful
universities enjoy a similar level of dedication from its
staff. This notion is one that decision makers at CUA do
not understand, respect, or pursue.
The recent firing of head football coach, Tom Mulholland
(CUA '93), is an example of how CUA actively voids itself
of loyal staff and members of its community. Coach
Mulholland is an CUA alum. He was a volunteer
assistant to the football coaching staff for seven years,
and eventually graduated to the compensated positions
of Defensive Coordinator and Interim Head Coach. Let
me reiterate that last statement for emphasis, he
coached the football team without compensation for
seven years. He did this for two reasons, his love of
football and his love of CUA.
After the departure of two head coaches due to the lack of
support provided by the university, Coach Mulholland was
left with the challenge of rebuilding a winning football
program. Who better than to undertake that task than a
dedicated 10 year member of the CUA football coaching
staff?
Clearly the coaching profession is a fickle one. Coaches
are hired and fired regularly. However, most are given
time and opportunity to shape and build a winning
program. Mulholland was not given this chance.
Recruiting is the first step in evaluating the effectiveness
of a coach, yet Mulholland's success in this area was not
considered. In Mulholland's first full year as Head Coach,
the recruiting class jumped from 13 (under Ambrose) to
about 30. As his recruits entered the second half of their
freshman year at CUA, Coach Mulholland was fired.
The administrator responsible for firing Mulholland made
her decision based on the voices of a few disgruntled
players. She neglected to speak to the other 60+
members of the team, including the players of the future
who were recruited by Coach Mulholland. She conferred
with two assistant coaches who are in hot pursuit of the
head coaching position and who would like nothing more
than to speed up the process of opening that position.
The other eight members of Coach Mulholland's staff,
however, were not contacted. This short-sighted
administrator fails to understand the importance of loyalty
in building a successful program or university.
As you reflect and discuss the inequities being
experienced by your faculty members, consider too how
the other members of your community who also provide
for your growth and education are being selected,
deselected and driven away from CUA.
Sincerely,
Niveen Mulholland, Ph.D.
Wife of Coach Mulholland

Regarding the Prolife Movement

To the Editor:

The Pro-Life Movement often compares abortion with the Holocaust. This comparison, undeservedly alarmist and even insultingly insensitive to some, makes a modicum of sense upon reflection. Recall, the prime tenet of pro-life ideology is that human life begins at conception. Given this assumption, it logically follows that abortion is morally equivalent to pre-meditated murder. However, in my opinion, this presumption of life-at-conception also leads to other, more difficult, conclusions. I therefore ask of pro-lifers: If abortion is indeed the murder of millions of innocents, what say you to the following?

1) Killing Abortion Doctors: Picture a murderer in maternity ward, who's systematically killing infants and refuses to listen to reason. You're watching, and you have a gun. Would you be wrong in using lethal force to stop the killing? If not, then how is this situation different from the killing of abortion doctors? Or perhaps killing such doctors is imprudent given abortion's present legal protection, but nevertheless justified in principle?

2) Rebellion: The American Revolution - merely a tax revolt, mind you - was a justified rebellion. Wouldn't pro-lifers be similarly justified in attempting to halt the murder of millions by taking up arms against the government? For 30 years, pro-lifers have nonviolently petitioned their government for a redress of grievances…to no avail. Meanwhile, millions more have been murdered. At what point is further nonviolent resistance futile; or how many more innocents must die before rebellion is justified?

3) War Crimes Trials: Under a future pro-life regime, should the doctors and other medical personnel who performed abortions be tried for mass murder? As for the Supreme Court justices whose order legalized abortion, and the legislators and government officials (e.g., Presidents) who enforced that order - this mass murder occurred on their watch. Must they not be held to account? If the Nuremberg Trials were justified, wouldn't these trials be similarly appropriate?

4) If woman hires a hit man to murder her born child, she is tried for accessory-to-murder. How is this case different from women who procured abortions? Shouldn't these women also be tried? Some claim that these women are "victims" of abortion; others point to the guilt and remorse many feel after having abortions. I fail to see how women who freely choose to have abortions are "victims"; and many perpetrators feel considerable remorse for their crimes, but are not therefore exempted from criminal penalties.

5) China, Russia, and the European Union countries allow legal abortions. Should a future pro-life American government demand that these nations ban abortions immediately? If they failed to comply, should we not make war upon them, overthrow their governments, occupy their territories, conduct war crimes trials, and reconstruct their societies, governments, and cultures with a pro-life bent? This is, after all, how we dealt with Nazi Germany, Holocaust perpetrator, in World War II. Or perhaps we should have stuck with economic sanctions and diplomatic protests had the Nazis murdered only German Jews? Our military, with ample manpower and technology, easily surpasses those of the aforementioned nations. Isn't the halting of mass murder abroad a just cause for war?

I am not pro-life. Even if I was, I would still avoid a movement that all too often employs demonization of opponents, false dichotomies, unjustified claims of objectivity, and other tactics beyond the pale of honorable political discourse. I ask these questions to point out the logical implications of the pro-life stance. In my view, too many people on all sides of the abortion debate have neither critically examined their own beliefs, nor honestly considered the merits of their opponents'. Our country is ill served by this uncritical attitude. I've heard pro-lifers claim to be "counter-cultural." Perhaps they can be so in yet another way, by engaging in honest and critical reflection, and considering thereby whether they tread upon the path of light or darkness.

Sincerely,

Matthew Ing
Alumnus,
School of Engineering,
BME 2000, MME 2002
(301)890-0449
gravitron5@hotmail.com

PS

I just sent a letter to the editor entitled 'Implicitly Speaking' regarding Jason Beck's editorial about Catholic being 'too secular' –

I just realized the formatting didn't transfer - and when we quoted his editorial we Bolded and Italized his use of the phrase 'THESE PEOPLE' and 'OUR SOCIETY' (in the third paragraph) to indicate our point.

If you do decide to publish the letter, please note this format because that paragraph won't make sense without it. thanks.

go tower!

peace, laura collins '03

Implicitly Speaking…

We are writing as recent Alumni in response to Jason Beck's editorial ("The University is too Secularized to be called 'Catholic'" November 21, 2003). In it, the author bemoans the perception that The Catholic University of America is not explicitly Catholic enough for his tastes. Amen. As a group of social workers, we acknowledge an individual's perception of reality. Though, I think we could find an equally large group of people who would bemoan the fact that Catholic is Catholic enough and even more who might say Catholic is too Catholic.
No surprise here - you can never make everyone happy or satiate our desire for what we think should be the face of our beloved University. Clearly, we disagree with the author but we would hardly take the time to write an editorial over a disagreement about Catholic's Catholicism. Shoot, we had enough of those endless conversations during our tenure at CUA.
Rather, we'd like to comment on what it is the author chose to bemoan about. He selected "Disabilities Awareness Month" as his example of CU's secularism. He comments, "I am not, in any way, opposed to having a disabilities awareness month, bringing about greater awareness for the need for inclusion of these people (our emphasis) into our society and so on. However, I was most distressed to find no religious message to this theme." We think that this sentence alone shows the weakness in his bemoaning. We will leave the emphasized terminology as is because it speaks for itself. But rather, the author desires more explicit mention of Catholicism in campus-wide events.
Our first suggestion is, go ahead: Do it, don't wait for someone else to bring about this campus-wide appeal for Catholicism. Start an organization like several of us did during our experience and recruit friends and peers to follow you in your cause. Our second suggestion is: Ask yourself why you need such explicit mention of Catholicism? Is Christ not present in these various events on campus? Is not the Catholic call to loving Christ and serving Him present in Disabilities Awareness Month or caring for God's creation through Recycling Programs? Third, we ask you to remember that there are many non-Catholics who attend CUA and who sponsor, run and participate in these so-called 'secular' activities. Finally, we recommend taking a sensitivity class or perhaps Social Work 101.
In the end, as devout Catholics and graduates of this University, we find it disconcerting to read your articles. Not all of us require explicit mention of our faith at every student activity and in every classroom. Some of us see our Catholic Identity present in these events and activities. Implicitly. Whether banners proclaim it or not.
So, to all of you who think Catholic is too Catholic, keep on, keepin' on. It gets better, we promise. To those who think Catholic is just right, kudos! You've found your niche. And to Mr. Beck, well, we hope that you find the University you are looking for. Remember, there is always Steubenville and now even, Ave Maria University in Florida. No worries, you'd probably still live close to a Domino's Pizza.

Laura Collins, Class of 2003 Social Work/ Religious Studies
Jeff Crum, Class of 2003 Social Work
Susie Roling, Class of 2003 Social Work

———————————————

AUTHOR'S NAME: Laura Collins, 610.662.6343
Jeff Crum, 59crum@cua.edu, Susie Roling, 18roling@cua.edu

Forum-Secular Nature of Catholic

After reading Mr. Beck's antagonistic, vitriolic sermons, it is no
wonder that students are becoming more secular and less Catholic.
Just what is Mr. Beck afraid of here? Students recycling perhaps?
Maybe become aware of a disability?! As self-appointed czar of
holiness here at CUA, he offends all of the hard-working clergy
members and devout laypeople who are "good" Catholics. Why isn't
recognizing disability a Catholic act? Surely Jesus recognized
disability wherever he went, and showed more compassion then we
could ever hope to. Just because it is not written down in some dusty
old book at the Vatican does not make it a 'secular' event.
In a short clause in his last essay, ("except for mentions of him at
Mass, if you bothered to go"), he boils down years of pessimism and
condescension that have been emanating from certain elements of
the church for the last thirty years or so into one smarmy sentence.
Who would want to worship anything with such a sanctimonious
person? Much less experience the power and wonder that is the
Catholic Mass?
I submit that a far greater problem with CUA is not the lack of
Catholic identity, but the number of students who are disillusioned
upon graduation with the church due to people such as Mr. Beck.
They have morphed it from the religion of service and love that I
knew in high school and CCD classes into a rigid routine that must
be followed to the letter.
My advice to Mr. Beck would be to sit back, relax, get a Guinness at
Brooks, and search your soul to find out why you feel the need to
emphasize the symbolism of some obscure person over the
substance of actually loving your fellow students, not degrading them
with false piety.

Sincerely,
Alexander Duke
Class of 2000, Politics

Swimming Heads to University Maryland Invitational

Both the men's and women's Catholic University swim teams finished with winning seasons last year, and expect nothing less this year.

The men started the season with a win against Randolph-Macon College. They then suffered losses to Mary Washington College, Washington & Lee University, and Virginia Military Institute, while beating Gallaudet University and York College.

The University of Maryland Invitational opened Thursday, and junior Jim Horstmann advanced to the final round.

The women beat York College of Pennsylvania last Sunday. This upcoming weekend they will be swimming at University of Maryland in the Terrapin Cup.

This year the Lady Cardinals are enjoying a winning season thus far. Currently they are 3-2 and are hopeful for another successful year. Although they lost some valuable seniors, they have new freshman that are showing a lot of potential. Freshmen Elizabeth McGinn and Stephanie Speicher will play a large role on the team. These two helped win the 400 hundred free relay along with juniors Kathy Jenko and Carlin Plantulli against Mary Washington in late October. The team is confident that they can secure another winning season, and hopefully much more.

Football Suffers Loss in '03 Oyster Bowl

CUA Football lost to Bridgewater Saturday, who is ranked tenth at www.D3Football.com. They fell 58-20 at the Oyster Bowl in Hampton, Va. It was the last regular season game for both teams.

Catholic scored in the first quarter when junior running back Ed Smith made it into the end zone from the one-yard line only five minutes into the game. The Cardinals were on the one-yard line thanks to senior defensive back Dan Zane who intercepted the ball on the previous play and made a 44-yard return.

Bridgewater took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter. The Cardinals took over the lead again, this time with an eight play, 65-yard drive. Junior wide receiver Nick Bublavi made a 26-yard touchdown reception to bring Catholic back up. However, the lead was lost when Bridgewater returned the kickoff for 92-yards, bringing the score to 17-14. The Eagles would remain on top for the rest of the game.

Bridgewater had only 152 yards in the first half, but came back out after halftime to score 34 unanswered points. They finished the game with 521 offensive yards. Their special teams also came through in this game, making some key plays. CUA's Bublavi scored again early in the fourth, catching a five-yard pass while fighting off Eagle defenders. He finished the game with a career-high 11 receptions, leading all other receivers. He closed the day with 155 yards and two touchdowns.

Smith produced for Catholic, gaining 46 yards on 23 carries and making two interceptions for 19 yards. Junior quarterback Pat Truxillo was 18 of 36 for 266 yards. He was intercepted three times, but made two touchdown passes. CUA's defense was led by senior line backer John Blattner, who made seven tackles including two that were for losses of yardage. Zane also contributed to the defense, with six tackles, two that resulted in losses, and one interception.

Catholic finishes the season 3-7 and 2-4 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference under second year head coach Tom Mulholland.

DuFour Weight Room Receives Much Needed Additions and Improvements

The DuFour Athletic Center weight room has received a much needed upgrade from an alumni donation according to Head Basketball Coach and Assistant Athletic Director Mike Lonergan.

Dan Hanley, '86, a former rugby player and entrepreneur donated several thousand dollars to allow for the upgrade. Hanley did not immediately return The Tower's requests for comment.

The equipment includes a full set of dumbbells weighing between 5 and 100 pounds, 10 new bench/squat machines and two machines focusing on shoulder/back/arm exercises.

"Some of the equipment in the weight room was over 18 years old. It was a much needed improvement," said Lonergan. Athletic Director Robert Talbot and other CUA coaches said that improvements were desperately needed to the DuFour Center in a March 21, 2003 issue of The Tower.

"The new equipment makes me want to lift," said Lonergan. He also said it will improve CUA's ability to recruit prospective students and help train current athletes.

The additions to the weight room are the first steps in larger, more ambitious goals of DuFour improvement, according to Lonergan. Talbot was unavailable for comment because of his current role in this plan. Presently, said Lonergan, he is traveling the country in order to commence a $3 million DuFour improvement capital campaign. When the monetary goal is reached, plans for DuFour renovations include the installation of artificial turf in the football stadium, a modification of the racquetball courts into a new weight room and the creation of a new locker room, Lonergan said.

This plan, still in preliminary stages, would be paid for by the capital campaign as well as the use of the artificial turf field by area high schools to defray the cost.

"I am very excited about these plans," said Lonergan. "These improvements would not only help [the basketball team], but our other athletes and students."

Cardinal Profiles: Will Giannobile

Whoever said tall guys have all the fun never met junior swimmer William Mosby Giannobile. Will, a politics major from Hammond, LA, never let a little height difference keep him from diving into the competition.

Standing at a proud 5'6" tall, Will gets enjoyment when he is, "the short kid that whoops all the tall kid's butts. I love nothing better to have enough confidence to walk up to an event and have three tall kids around me and thinking to themselves, 'what is this guy doing here,' and then I blow them out of the water," said Will.

Will started swimming early on when his mother placed him on a swim team in the third grade. "It wasn't that I liked it or I was disinterested in it, I just was indifferent," said Will. Will stuck with it and gained a passion for the butterfly stroke after watching Pablo Morales in the 1992 Olympic Games. "Swimming just grew on me," said Will.

In high school, Will won three individual state championships in the 200 free style and 500 free style. Will also lead his teammates to a state championship his senior year. "I dedicated my junior year to a friend of mine in grade school who died in a car accident just before he was about to start in his first football game. He had amazing potential and an infectious personality. That year I swam with his number sewn on to my swim suit," said Will.

Here at Catholic, not only has Will pursued swimming, but also his faith. "I was interested in expanding my faith, it was one of the reasons why I choose CUA for my school," said Will. As if majoring in politics and being a member of the Cardinal swim team were not enough, Will also altar serves, is a Eucharistic minister, is a member of Esto Vir and a volunteer at St. Anne's.

One of Will's biggest idols is Steve Prefontaine, a distance runner. Will is inspired by "the way he involves himself in anything he does and the supreme belief he has in himself. He didn't believe in talent but his ability to endure more pain and overcome anything. I know that when I swim it is going to hurt and it does, but I also have a unyielding belief in myself and my own abilities that I can overcome any pains and endure more than any of my competition," said Will.

When it comes to his teammates, Will says, "I'm not the kid who gets everyone pumped up, I do my own thing. If anyone needs my support I will go up to them individually and get them ready," said Will. As for his plans for the future, Will said, "I want to be the Pope or the President. No honestly, I want to be an anchor for ESPN but I could also see myself as a volunteer coach for kids."

Cardinal Profiles: Kathy Jenko

Kathy Jenko exemplifies a true winning spirit. She loves what she does and she knows how to win. As a Cardinal Swimmer she knows how to work hard and stay competitive. "It feels pretty satisfying to see all the work from practicing and lifting paying off," she said. Although she is hard working and knows doing her best is the most important thing, she knows that a little competition never hurt anyone, saying "I usually just want to get my best times but beating some of my rivals is fun."

Kathy has been swimming since she was eleven years old. At that time she was also playing basketball. "It was either swimming or continuing basketball so I decided to try something new and go with swimming." She went on to swim more competitively in Coal Center, Pa. She has been swimming ever since and has never regretted her decision.

This year at the CAC Kathy won the 200 meter freestyle and the 100 meter freestyle. Kathy has won these two events at the CAC for the past two years. "I am happy that I have done pretty well this year. I've had some of my fastest times for dual meets in the beginning of the season so hopefully I can stay in this kind of shape and do well at our big competitions," she said about winning and her plans for this year's season.

Kathy is glad to be swimming as a Catholic Cardinal and happy about the support from CUA students and fans. Kathy said, "I think the support is great, I know we don't get a whole lot of publicity but we always have a lot of people cheering for us at our home meets." She knows that the team can win, saying " I think that if we keep working hard we have a lot a good shot at surprising a lot of people at conferences." Kathy truly knows the true spirit of hard work, teamwork, competition and how to win.

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