Fordham University School of Education - Grail Yearbook (New York, NY)

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We were smiling . . . then! Our fourth year was the time for publica- tion of the GRAIL. Persuaded by Miss Scan- lon's repeated exhortations the class had for three years assembled a treasury to help defray the expenses. When the class ads for other years were deducted, the class treasury of the class of 'Sl amounted to a startling S67.00. Unawed by this turn of events, Joan Dowling, the editor quickly assembled her forces and with the help of the rest of the senior class, got the Welcome Back dance going. Flying in the face of established tradition, we decided that money was the prime object of the Grail dance. This mercenary attitude allowed the hard-pressed stalwarts of previous decorating committees to remain in peace. There were no decorations but nobody seemed to mind. And if they did, there wasn't much they could do about it. During the night of the affair, the loudspeaker system exhibited an alarming tendency to shock anyone who touched it. The female vocalist attached to Frank Alfieri's Blue Flames was the type of singer who liked to manhandle microphones, so, during her songs she hit an amazing series of unintended high notes. For the second time . . .still smiling. in our history, we made money, a good time was had by all. We then proceeded on with the other work of the Grail. Writeups were written pic- tures taken, frantic appeals for money made, deadlines established, broken, re-established, re-broken and finally met when New City threatened to foreclose the mortgage. Throughout this whole process of writing, editing, laying-out and publishing a yearbook, Mr. Jay, a veteran of many previous encounters always maintained his serenity and succeeded in transmitting it to the rest of his staff. AS a result, nearly everyone possessed a confi- dence in the eventual publication of the book: that is, everyone except Joan Dowling lthe Editor-in-Chiefl, Hank D'Angelo lthe Manag- ing Editorl, Joan Smith lthe Business Mana- gerl, Anne Brun and Ray Connolly lLiterary Editorsl, Marge Cummerford lthe Photogra- phy Editorl, Joe Pessarelli lCirculation Mana- gerl, and Terri Banziger, Dan Moriarty, Jake Weisberg, Gloria Petrilli, Pat Conradt . . . and anyone else who actually worked on the Grail, particularly that gem of a history: The Thing . Shall we throw If there's any work to be done Please Joan, won't you everything out? we're not coming in. give me an extra day? lt's all for a good cause

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History Club, ln the History Club, those of us who had the time began an intensive study of modern world problems. Korea, Foreign Aid, State Department Policy and manpower resources were avidly studied by the world conscious. Under the leadership ot Larry Berglas, this or- ganization enjoyed a particularly fine program. No mention of the History Club would be complete without a word about Mr. Mannion, its moderator. ln Sophomore year, those of us who chose History as a major or minor were frankly frightened by the stories we heard from the upperclassmen concerning the fabu- lous Mr. Mannion. We were told that he had a massive intellect, a great capacity for work and a thorough knowledge of subject matter. What frightened us however, were reports that he expected his students to be as he was. Those of us who took his courses were made to try and in general enjoyed the attempt as well as Literary Society. profiting greatly from it, ln the end, we were all convinced of the utter impossibility of ever attaining to his degree of knowledge. For Mr. Mannion was for us the epitome of the creative scholar. Never the pedant, he enriched his vast and well ordered knowledge of subject matter with a cuttingly acute inter- pretation of historical data which when pre- sented to us, literally shocked us into deep thought. ln his classes, many of us were com- pelled to think for the first time in our lives. Never dry or boring, always interesting and thought-provoking, Mr. Mannion is a well re- membered figure in our lives. The Literary Society, in the capable hands of Mr. Connors, also reflected the doings of the world outside. Making a protracted study of the poetrysof disenchantment, they investi- gated the work of T, S. Eliot and gained much from their association with Mr. Connors its faculty moderator. The English department in the School of Education is characterized by variety and the English majors were greatly rewarded in their studies by having several insights into litera- ture presented to them. The creativity and informality of Mr. Jay's class served as a valu- able and interesting counterpoint for Mr. Con- nors' more formal and strictly organized con- sideration. Mr. Grace's insistance on the social and historical implications of literature differed from Mr. Hines' essentially aesthetic approach, while the realism of Mr. Walsh's attitude served to complement Mr. Hassett's consideration of the study of letters. We have said that Mr. Connors presented a formally organized approach to literature. However, its organization did not prevent, but rather insisted on depth of penetration. You always knew that you were in for quite a bit of work when you signed up for one of Mr. Con- nors' courses. Nevertheless, the kindliness and interest shown by Mr. Connors served to ease the drudgery of his seemingly more burden- some assignments.

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Not row U! Boy you should have During our Senior year, those who came to Fordham motivated mainly by an interest in intercollegiate football were finally rewarded for their long patience. The Rams put together an impressive record of eight wins and one loss, their best since the halcyon days of the thirties. Always putting on a good show, they rewarded their spectators with a series of one point victory margins that were generally re- garded as the ultimate in athletic catharsis. We were there, banners in hand and spirits soar- ing, to cheer the team on in victory and in our lone failure. We gloried in the spectacular aerial passes of Dick Doheny, the nimble and accurate re- ceiving of Al Pfeifer and the superb ball-toting of Larry Higgins. They were our heroes of the gridiron and we were their frozen but solid mass of supporters. Long will we remember the spectacular l95O season and the Lafayette, Yale, Boston College, West Virginia, San Fran- cisco, Georgetown, Temple and Syracuse games. But most of all, how can we ever for- get the day of the Big Blow , November 25, when a few loyal but dishevelled Fordham fans clung to their seats, amidst flying debris, rain, sleet and fliclcers of snow to witness the mud- diest of games, the traditional clash with I N.Y. U..