Letters 2

2
FORDHAM
Letters
F FOR FORDHAM FAKE
I read with interest the item on page 6
of the Fall 2009 issue of FORDHAM
titled “The Legendary Enrico Pavone
(and Other Fordham Stories).” To give
proper credit, the “some upperclassmen”
who invented Pavone was in fact my very
creative classmate Dennis O’Connor,
FCRH ’66. Dennis created not only
Pavone, but a body of Pavone’s poetry
and his entire social circle and their jet-set
activities. Dennis gave at least one reading
of Pavone’s work, during which he
memorably stated something like, “I feel
I’m casting fake pearls before real swine.”
He was also interviewed on WFUV
concerning Pavone by a couple of faculty
members. The scheme did unravel after a
long run, and I’m not sure how much of
a “good laugh” the faculty members had
over it, but it was incredibly inventive and
well executed.
—Robert L. Nowicki, FCRH ’66
ROCK ON
I was somewhat bemused, if not amused,
by the tone of the letters by Messrs.
Calianese and Hildebrand (“On U2 and
Cardinal Dulles,” Letters, Fall 2009).
Lighten up, fellas. The U2 campus
event will likely never be duplicated,
and deserved the coverage it received in
FORDHAM. I have heard nothing but
kudos for it. That the late Avery Cardinal
Dulles is among our greatest is without
challenge, and his career has been well
documented and indeed lionized in past
issues of the magazine.
—John Halligan, FCRH ’63
I am actually quite proud of Fordham’s
decision to both invite U2 to perform [at
Rose Hill] on Good Morning America
and to place Bono (or a self-portrait of
Bono) on the cover of the Spring 2009
issue of this magazine. These events bring
attention to the University that all can
benefit from. I think admissions alone
will benefit, as many young adults will
have seen the concert and say, “I want
to go there.” How is this a bad thing? It
also must be noted that Bono has used his
celebrity to bring aid and awareness to
the plight and poverty of Africa through
his various humanitarian efforts—too
many to mention in this space. Yes,
Bono is possibly the greatest rock star on
the planet, and could very easily spend
his spare time counting his millions of
dollars. Instead, he has chosen to use his
celebrity to do God’s work, which we all
can learn from, and be inspired by.
—Robert Pantuliano, FCRH ’93, GSS ’04
GRAZIE
Thank you for writing an article about
the Italian-American population around
the Fordham campus (“A Walk on
Arthur Avenue,” Fall 2009). I found it
refreshing to read that we are well and
surviving on Arthur Avenue. I am a Ph.D.
graduate from Fordham who is proud of
her heritage. The article was beautifully
written and long overdue.
—Clara Orsini-Romano, Ph.D., GSAS ’77
THE FEELING’S NOT MUTUAL
Regarding Professor Heather Dubrow’s
letter (“Civil War to Civil Rights”) in
the Fall 2009 issue of FORDHAM, Col.
Robert Gould Shaw’s relationship with
Fordham (St. John’s College) should
be kept in proper perspective. Without
detracting from Col. Shaw’s exploits in
the Civil War and his laudable command
of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment,
his connection with Fordham was brief,
tenuous and antagonistic. He attended
Second Division, which eventually
became Fordham Preparatory School,
for only seven months. From the outset,
he made it quite clear in his letters to his
mother that he hated both Fordham and
the Jesuits. He made few, if any, friends
and felt victimized by the Jesuit rules and
disciplinary procedures for boarders in
those days. He certainly had no regard
for any Fordham values, which Professor
Dubrow intends to use in her classes.
As a result of his intense dissatisfaction,
his parents withdrew him from Fordham,
took him on a tour of Germany, Sweden
and Norway, and then enrolled him in
a Swiss boarding school. On his return
from Europe, he entered Harvard and,
even though he managed to graduate, he
did not like it there either. As Father Ray
Schroth, S.J., notes in his book Fordham:
A History and Memoir, Shaw never
forgave the Jesuits for what he perceived
as vindictive treatment because he did not
convert to Catholicism as did his uncle.
In light of Robert Gould Shaw’s
lifelong animosity toward Fordham, one
wonders why he was inducted into the
Hall of Honor in the first place.
—August A. Stellwag, FCRH ’53, and
Francis X. Holbrook, FCRH ’49, coauthors of When September Comes: A
History of Fordham Preparatory School
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