F.D.R. Picked Up Train at Catholic U. to Avoid Union Station Congrestion

The Tower reported in February 1942 that former United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made a quick stop at the University before departing by train to an undisclosed location. The University had a railroad station at the time. Previously, he had recieved an honorary degree from CUA in 1933.

“Mr. Roosevelt stepped from his car to the station platform, to a fast westbound train, in a few seconds,” said the article. “The obvious reason for this action was to avoid congestion at Union Station.”

Students welcomed Roosevelt’s short appearance. “We say welcome any time, Mr. President,” the article read. “Catholic University wants to serve the country in any and every capacity, and if this lowly station serves the purpose, use it.”

In March, a member of Roosevelt’s staff at the White House, known as Mr. Hassett in a message found in archives, phoned to ask the name of the Editor of The Tower, who, at the time, was Arthur Mullen of Omaha, Nebraska. In their conversation, Hassett told Mullen that, in regards to the article printed about Roosevelt, “such things are not to printed about the president.”

Ryan J. Reilly and Michael Oliva contributed to this report.

CUA Awarded Kennedy for Service to Church, Nation

Former President John F. Kennedy was presented with the Ninth Annual James Cardinal Gibbons Medal at the University in 1956 for “his great deeds as a Catholic patriot, as a civic leader, as an incomparable humanitarian and as an unflinching champion of principles we hold sacred,” as alumni president James Kenny stated at the presentation of the award.

Kennedy received the award during his time as Senator of Massachussetts. During his acceptance, he stated that splitting parties between liberals and conservatives would “lessen political tolerance, make more difficult bipartisan cooperation on basic national policies and reduce drastically the checks and balances on extreme action which our present two-party system provides.” He later explained that “it is through discussion that democracy corrects its errors.”

The James Cardinal Gibbons Medal is the highest award given by the Alumni Association. It is given to an individual who may or may not be an alumnus of the university for outstanding service to the church, the United States and the University. Kennedy is among other distinguished recipients, such as Nancy Reagan and J. Edgar Hoover.

Obama, McCain Exchange Lighthearted Jabs at Dinner Honoring Former CUA Trustee

Last week on October 18, both Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John McCain (R- AZ) spoke at the 2008 Alfred E. Smith dinner. The dinner, which was organized by the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, raised $3.9 million dollars for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York.

Smith who was a four term Governor of New York (1919-1920 and 1923-1928), was the first Catholic to be a nominee of a major political party. He was the Democratic Presidential Nominee in 1928 a race which he lost to Herbert Hoover. Read more

CUA Alum Longest Standing Dem. Chair

John Bailey, B.A. 1926 served as chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1961 to 1968, the longest term of any chairman in history. Bailey has also been credited as one of the key persons to get John F. Kennedy into the White House.

Before becoming chairman of the DNC, Bailey was the chairman of the Connecticut Democratic Party where he circulated a seminal report that was later dubbed the “Bailey Memorandum.” The report argued that regarding religion, a Catholic on the presidential ticket would bring more votes he would lose.

“As a Catholic, my father was, of course, very proud to have helped elect the first Catholic president,” said Barbara Kennelly, Bailey’s daughter in the Summer 2004 edition of CUA Magazine.
While a student at CUA, Bailey played on the university’s baseball and football teams. “I considered myself first an athlete and after that there was no time for politics,” Bailey once recalled.

Priests, Presidents & Parties - Party Heads Faced-off at CUA

In 2004, Chairs of DNC, RNC Were Both Univ. Alum

Against the odds, it happened once, and it is not likely to happen again - the heads of the two biggest parties in the country were both Catholic University Alumni. Terry McAuliffe, B.A. 1979, and Ed Gillespie, B.A. 1983, faced off in a political debate in 2004 in the Edward J. Pryzbyla Center, as they were both chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties (respectively) at the time of the debate.

Over 800 students, faculty and alumni gathered to watch the well known alumni battle it out in the Pryzbyla Center Great Room. The former politics majors discussed the fundamental issues at stake during the 2004 presidential election between current President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). The debate was also televised by C-SPAN.

The debate began with informal banter about the closing of The Ratt (former Rathskellar, popular student bar formerly located in Cardinal Hall), as well as which debater graduated with the highest honors.

Gillespie, an Irish American from outside Philly, discovered the University in high school when a teacher noticed his accomplishments in their school paper and suggested he attended a well-known university in DC. During his time at CUA, he served as sports editor for The Tower and played for the rugby team as well as intramural basketball.

McAuliffe had been involved with the Democratic party from a young age, since his father was the treasurer for the Onondaga County Democratic Party. He was a resident advisor and vice president of the Judicial Branch of the student government while he attended the University.

The debate concluded with both debaters asking students to vote in what would be one of the most important campaigns in American history.

DPS Crime Log Up Until Oct. 22

Friday, October 17, 2008
12:01 a.m.
BURGLARY
Spellman Hall
Correspondent One reported he departed his room on 10/16/08 at 1900 hours. Correspondent One returned to his room on 10/17/08 at 0001 hours and discovered his property had been removed. Correspondent One’s room was left unlocked and unoccupied.
PROPERTY STOLEN: Macintosh Laptop Computer

Saturday, October 18, 2008
12:23 a.m.
HARRASMENT
Curley Court
Correspondent One reported that Suspect One has been harassing her. The incident will be referred to Student Life.

Monday, October 20, 2008
3:45 p.m.
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
Spellman Hall
Area Coordinator conducted a search of a residence hall room and found controlled substances. Incident will be referred to Office of Judicial Affairs.

Monday, October 20, 2008
6:00-6:50 p.m.
ATTEMPTED-THEFT FROM AUTO
DuFour Parking Lot
Correspondent One, Correspondent Two and Correspondent Three reported they parked their vehicles between 1800-1850 hours. The complainants returned to their vehicles and discovered their windows shattered. No property was taken from the vehicles.

Monday, October 20, 2008
6:00-6:50 p.m.
ATTEMPTED-THEFT FROM AUTO
DuFour Parking Lot
Correspondent One reported she parked her vehicle at 1800 hours. Correspondent One returned at 1850 hours and discovered her window shattered and property removed from the vehicle. MPD was notified.
PROPERTY STOLEN: Wallet, Cell Phone, Purse, Credit Cards.

Monday, October 20, 2008
6:00-6:55 p.m.
ATTEMPTED-THEFT FROM AUTO
DuFour Parking Lot
Correspondent One reported he parked his vehicle at 1800 hours. Correspondent One returned at 1850 hours and discovered his window shattered and property removed from the vehicle. MPD was notified.
PROPERTY STOLEN: Backpack, Two Verizon Cell Phones, Books

Catholic Vote ‘Essential’ in Election of Next President

Catholics will be a deciding factor in the upcoming Presidential election. Despite recent statements of U.S. bishops against the Democratic Party, current polls show that the Catholic vote matches the general electorate in its recent tilt towards Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

“Deciding who to vote for is one of the most important decisions we make,” said University politics professor Stephen Schneck during Campus Ministry’s CUA on Tap Thursday night, “It is a moral decision.”

Read more

Watchdog Group Says CUA Trustee Violated Tax Laws

Requests IRS Investigate Statements About Obama

University Trustee and Archbishop of Paterson, New Jersey, Arthur Serratelli, has been accused by a watchdog group for violating tax laws for his negative statements against Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Read more

Students for Life Hosts Chastity Book Author Who Endorsed Sen. McCain

Dawn Eden, a conservative blogger who wrote a book on chastity entitled “The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On,” told students society has adopted the “contraception mentality,” which thinks of a child as a mistake, in a speech to Students for Life on Wednesday night. She also endorsed Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz), indicating he was the best choice for the pro-life movement.

“I am a single issue voter, I am voting for John McCain,” said Eden, citing a statement issued by the Pro-Life Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Essentially it says you have to look at the party’s platform, what they stand for and it is the responsibility of the Republicans to not only live up to their platform of being against abortion and for the value of human life, it is their responsibility to then walk that talk by reaching out to pregnant women who need help and by reaching out to other people who are in need.”

Eden said Catholics could not vote for Democrats because their platform says flat out Roe v. Wade must be upheld, and pointed out Obama said his first act as president would be to sign the freedom of choice act, which would eliminate all limits on abortion, including parental notification and the partial birth abortion ban.

Eden is studying at the Dominican House of Studies, located adjacent to the the University.

CUA Archives Holds Comic Book With First Known Depiction of Black President

The once fanciful and imaginative idea of an African American one day being elected president of the United States could come true in a 11 days. Interestingly, the depiction of the first black president to be nominated by a major political party actually has its roots at the University.

See the digital archives of Treasure Chest here

In 1938, Pope Pius XI wrote he was concerned about the breakdown of liberty, political morality and belief in the dignity of the individual in Europe. He saw the United States as a place for political freedom and for Christian principles of justice to flourish. The pontiff wrote to U.S. bishops to ask for an initiative to be started at the University to enrich Catholic education.

The commission, which became known as the Commission on American Citizenship, was started by the University’s rector, Bishop Joseph Corrigan and lasted from 1939 to 1970.

Comic books were so popular at the time, the commission created “Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact,” which was published from 1946 to 1972. The Pettigrew series ran in 1964. Set 12 years in the future in the 1976 election, the comic book told the story of the presidential campaign of Timothy Pettigrew of New York. Over the 10 issues the Pettigrew comic strip is in, Pettigrew places second in a New Hampshire primary, survives an assassination attempt and wins the nomination from his party.
Pettigrew, a Catholic, is shown only in silhouette throughout the comic strip, however. It is not until the end of the comic that readers find he is actually black. Readers were encouraged to draw conclusions based on his character, not his race.

Pettigrew was the creation of Berry Reece, a Yazoo City, Miss., native and Notre Dame graduate and New York-based cartoonist Joe Sinnott. “I was trying to conceive of a person, a hero, a protagonist, who could unite the allegedly United States of America,” said Reece in a National Catholic Reporter article. In an era of segregation and state-sanctioned racism, continued Reece in the article, he determined that such a candidate would have to be black.

CUA’s American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives hold 500 copies of the biweekly comic book, including all 10 issues that relate to Pettigrew.

Watch the comic strip on youtube

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