What was your major/ minor?
Major in American History, Minor in English
Where did you live all four years?
First year in Northwest Hall (now Jogues); two years in Regis; one year in Southeast Hall (Villages)
What were all of your roles on The Voice?
Editor-in-Chief 1974-75; News Editor 1973-74; Staff Writer 1972-73
What was the most controversial story you published as Editor-in-Chief?
The Student Government and Legislature were relatively new concepts at Fairfield U, so most of the controversy stemmed from growing pains, but nothing really major in terms of “hot” stories. There was a recount of the Student Government Presidential election and an impeachment attempt after his election. The Student Government President and I were roommates for all four years. Father Fitzgerald, the then president of Fairfield U, called our dorm room “the most powerful room on campus.” Unlike many of the other college campuses through the U.S., Fairfield had very little in terms of demonstrations, etc.
What was your favorite/least favorite parts of being Editor-in-Chief?
My favorite part of the job was trying to stay on top of the pulse of the University and writing about it, though I delegated lots of the writing to others in order to even out the playing field. I also enjoyed doing the planning and layout. There was a great deal of camaraderie back then. But publishing a weekly newspaper was somewhat of a time-consuming chore back in the 1970s, to the detriment of my GPA. Material had to be edited by Monday morning, then sent to the printer for “typesetting,” then we drove to Stratford on Tuesday to cut out the typeset articles and headlines, run them through a wax machine and then actually lay out the paper by hand, using special rulers to make sure articles were straight. We had to hand-calculate type sizes for headlines, etc. Photos were cropped in separately, then off to press by Tuesday evening, with publication on Thursday morning. Since news stories sometimes became stale by the time of publication, I focused a lot on feature articles to make it more of a “magazine” style read.
How would you compare The Voice to The Mirror?
From what I’ve seen, The Mirror is a real class act. It’s professional, timely and well-written. We had some excellent writing back in our day but given time constraints, we couldn’t be very edgy with news or sports. We did have competition though — the Fairfield Free Press, which was the so-called “radical” newspaper on campus.
What is your favorite memory of Fairfield?
I can’t single out just one memory. I made a lot of long-lasting friends (some of whom I just saw last night at the game). I remember great professors, both lay and Jesuit and the expansive education that taught us to think on our own. Oh, and the “Stag-Her-Inn” (precursor of The Levee), The “Naut” (Sea Grape) and Luigi’s Pizza.
Leave a Reply