Letters to the Editor
Magazine Accolades
I’ve shared these thoughts before, but the praise merits repeating; [the Xavier magazine] staff deserves the highest praise for the quality you maintain in Xavier magazine. At 77+ years of age, and a relationship dating back to the 1940s, leading up to an MA in English in 1955, my praise doesn’t come lightly. I was the journalism teacher, yearbook and newspaper advisor at Princeton High School. For a quarter of a century from the early 1960s to retirement in 1987, I saw our yearbook win the coveted “Triple Crown” year-in and year-out while the three major rating services still existed. In addition, our newspaper was cited best in southwest Ohio by the Miami Valley high school journalism association one year when that group existed. Congratulations to you and your staff. Keep up the good work.
John T. Donnelly
Thanks for the Memories
Memories. Thank you for the article regarding Xavier after WWII. [War & Remembrance, Summer 2004] I believe Clyde and I were the first of the “GI couples” (or so we were called), arriving on Dec. 31, 1945, in Cincinnati. Fr. Mueller found us a place to live and we were soon part of a group of young marrieds living in studio apartments on Dana Avenue, Winding Way, close to Elet Hall. There were 17 dorm students there when we arrived. Clyde became recruiting officers for the U.S. Navy on campus, plus carrying a heavy load in the classroom.
There was a wives club—everybody was poor, yet we all survived. Most of the married couples lived in converted Quansah huts on campus. Yet despite our poverty, we all managed the junior and senior proms and other festivities. There were picnics and potlucks, and babies soon started arriving despite the tiny quarters we lived in.
Redheaded Fr. Malone taught a course in “Marriage and the Family”—his favorite axiom being “cheerful sacrifice is the basis of a happy marriage.” He taught the men well. Most were war-weary veterans and a few still had shrapnel wounds. There were a few canes used by recovering we-warriors, and for some, like Clyde, there were still the occasional nightmares. There were weddings among the single men. No one was afraid of the future after what they had been through during the war.
Soon, graduation and each couple went their separate way. I believe in Clyde’s class three became FBI agents, and we loosely kept in touch for awhile. Each couple was unique, yet their love of country and church bound them together. Now almost 60 years later it seems like yesterday. Clyde and I remain well after 61 years of marriage. We both currently serve on the board of directors of Catholic Social Service bureau and Birthright of Lexington and our adopted babies are almost 50 years old. Thanks for a wonderful life.
Clyde and Maura Graven
Supersized Class
As an XU alum, I am concerned about the ever-increasing class sizes. When I was a freshman in 1995, we were told that, at that point, we were the largest freshman class. During orientation, I specifically remember myself and my parents being told that Xavier would not be increasing the freshman class size in upcoming years. However, each year there has continued to be a larger class size. Not only does this create a housing concern, but also a concern in regard to class size, academic instruction and Xavier community life. I am uncertain if I would have made the choice to attend if my class were the same size as that Xavier is now accepting. The small community atmosphere, paired with high academic quality, were the reasons I attended Xavier as an undergraduate. I hope those values continue for classes ahead.
Andrea Engel
Homecoming Suprise
What kind of school "eliminates" its homecoming? Good old XU—always full of surprises.
Jenny Tuttle
Missing Home
Approximately every other year since I have graduated, my husband and I have enjoyed coming back to Xavier for the Homecoming weekend activities. We came in 2002 and really enjoyed ourselves. We weren't able to come last year because we had just moved to Germany (we are stationed over here with the Army). This year we were planning to come home for both this and Thanksgiving. When I called to find out what the dates would be this year, I was told that Homecoming has been discontinued and replaced with the "reunion weekend." I can't express my disappointment at this. My husband and I were not able to come back for the event because of scheduling conflicts. The homecoming weekend had activities that made us feel like we were "back at home." We felt the school spirit at all the events we went to, from the run that my husband took part in to the alumni dance and, most of all, the Homecoming game. I hope that whoever canceled this event will reconsider as I know my husband and I are not the only ones who miss it.
Nicole Christina (Frohlich) Jacobson
Lost Love
I love Homecoming!! Bring it back please!!
Bridget Gustafson
A Different View
The article on Dennis Davis has a reference to his having been "put to the test" by playing in Louisville, where it is asserted that "blacks weren't allowed to play." I suppose anything is possible, but I wonder if he remembers a city other than Louisville? I have lived in the New York area for 25 years, but grew up in Louisville in one of the most racially tolerant cities in the country, one that led the vanguard of integration in the mid-South. U of L was integrated shortly after WWII, so it sounds incredulous to me that "blacks weren't allowed to play there." I graduated from St. Xavier High School in Louisville in 1955; by then St. X had already been playing predominantly black Central High School in sports, including football. Catholic schools had integrated and the public schools were integrated totally the year following the decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. When I started at Xavier University in 1955, I saw little, if any, difference in racial attitudes between Cincinnati and Louisville (no great credit to either city, perhaps). I find it offensive that someone at XU thought that they had to "sneak" him into a game with U of L. How could that have been when the "white" schools in Louisville were already playing against black teams? Louisville was far from perfect, but to make it sound like Jackson (or even Lexington) is either an exaggerated memory or, if true, a sadly exaggerated fear not based on the reality of Louisville at the time.
George Fritz
