Fairfield University - Manor Yearbook (Fairfield, CT)

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-Q Fred Barakat's l 1-year reign as the head basketball coach at Fairfield University has been a solid eleven years of growth and success. Keeping Fairfield, a small Jesuit school of just under 3,000 students, among the Eastern elite as far as Divi- sion I basketball is concerned has been no easy task. Yet, Barakat and the Stags have endured, and quite well at that. Since taking over in 1970, Barakat has guided the Fair- field fortunes up the ladder in the East. The growth in stature of the basket xiprogram, within the strict academic frame- the U, iversity, has been matched by the subsequent per al reputation. He is considered, by Qkiffiilotivators, strategists and whether at a basketball or booster club affair, Barakat is performer. . l970 as a rookie head coach program was struggling. at Assumption, his assistant at UConn. Three were upsdting Marshall before Sqyare Garden in the opening 1972-73 season, the Stags Visginia Tech in the NIT alongside the best in the kept the Stags in that posi- T's and has quali- regional playoff spots in the last six regime had to be the rt the best in New tally, which eamed 539 And so, it is with a great a'eal of regret, ana' 1 a somewhat heavy r heart, that I announce my decision to leave Fairjiela' at the ena' of ' this season. Fred Barakat, Zfl lf8l them an ECAC playoff and their third trip to the NIT. That team was ranked among the East's top ten and among the nation's top 30 according the The Sporting News and Bas- ketball Weekly. That edition of the Stags also ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation in team offense with a scoring average of 86.5 points a game. The 1978-79 team finished as the number two team in the nation, behind only UCLA, in team field goal percentage 1.5401 and third in the nation in team free throw percentage f.770J. Highlights from this past season include Barakat chalking up his 100th coaching victory, a 123- 103 humbling of 14th-ranked Holy Cross which set a Stag scoring mark and a 26-game home winning streak, which was the longest in the nation. Fred Barakat is a native of Union City, N..l. and is a 1961 graduate of Assumption College. At Assumption, he sparked a team that became a Division ll national power. He cap- tained the Greyhounds as a senior and was named to the Little All-America team. He was also an outstanding catcher on the baseball team. Following his graduation with a B.A. in History, and a brief tryout with the N.Y. Knicks, Barakat returned to New Jersey to coach at Hasbrouck Heights High School. After five seasons at the high school level, he re- turned to Worcester, Massachusetts and Assumption Col- lege to assist his former coach Andy Laska. ln I969, he shifted to UConn to assist Dee Rowe before coming to Fair- field. Barakat, who was also kept very busy as the assistant athletic director while here at Fairfield, earned his MA. in personnel and guidance from Montclair State in 1966. He. his wife Florence, and their four children reside in Fairfield.

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DEDICATION The Class of 1981 is proud to dedicate the Manor to Rev. George H. McCarron for his thirteen years of services at F airheld University. We appre- ciate his many hours spent reg- istering students, his patience while handling add-drop courses and his workmanship in constructing Fair'Held's built-in class card hle. Fr, N1cC.1rron, undergraduate registrar for 13M years, sits in front of his 1000 pigeon holes that hold class cards for all courses. The Rev. George H. McCarron, a native of Newton, Massachusetts and one of eight children, attended Boston College and graduated in 1933. He then entered the Jesuit Society and was or- dained in 1944. Prior to becoming Registrar at Fairfield, Fr. McCarron taught high school history in Massachusetts and Maine, and he spent one year at the Prep. He was also on the faculty at Holy Cross College and Weston College. From 1951 to 1954, he served as an administrator in the Jesuit Community here at Fairfield, then he became manager of the Jesuit summer retreat house in Sunapee, New Hampshire. He stayed there four- teen years until he was assigned to his present post, as Fairfield's undergraduate Registrar. When Fr. McCarron arrived at Fairfield in 1968, registration was a tedious process done, on a I4 first come -first served basis, entirely by hand. In the early 70,s, a computer was installed, making it possible to complete registration in a fraction of the time. The Registrar's office in turn, has been able to cope with the University's growing enroll- ment. Fr. McCarron has retired this past March and is looking forward to much rest and relaxation. He plans to enjoy his hobby of wood working and would like to visit every so often to make sure things are running smoothly. Fr. McCarron will be greatly missed by both the students and the admin- istration staff. The Class of 1981 wishes Fr. McCarron the best of luck in the future and a long and restful retire- ment.

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