Manhattan College - Manhattanite Yearbook (Riverdale, NY)

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C I a s s of l!)41J SOPHOMORE year— that satisfaaory spot between the rather inept but hery frosh enthusiasm, and the circumspea, faintly stiphisticated outUx»lc peculiar to up- perclassmen. Si phomore year — that much romanticized standby of playwrights and raconteurs. Sophomore year — a yellow sweat- er, a green campus, and a nostalgia as pet- meable as the stale odors that hang over the desened chemistry labs. Wnh a group of class officers already se- lected during the previous semester, we were J well-prepared group ready to meet any and all emergencies. Dick Ganzi and Bill R(x-)ney had been selected President and Vice-Presi- UO

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Contest, competition came from two fellow Juniors, tfie aforementioned McCarthy and John J. O ' Leary. John McCarthy brought added laurels to Manhattan as National Chairman of the NFCCS commission on student government and did an outstanding job on the Student Council. One of the most important activities in the school is the Quadrangle and it was well staffed with members of the class of ' 48. Aldo Giannecchini was its enterprising managing editor; Walter Ruddy wrote the erudite Ob- server column and was named Editor of the ' 48 Manhattanite ; Robert B. McLoughlin wrote the Asides column and was an im- portant member of the debating team and other activities; William Miller was the ami- able sports editor and author of the Jaspers on Deck column, a favorite among sports- minded Manhattanites; Joseph M. McCarthy wrote the editorials and the Presenting column while holding down a job m the Placement Bureau and Publicity olfice; Al- bert J. Coakley did much of the copy edi ing, starred in the Players presentation of the Queen ' s Husband, and edited the Docket, the publication of the St. Thomas More Law Society; John J. O ' Leary capably managed the business affairs of the ' Quad- rangle and was an active member of most of the organizations on the campus. If the Junior class was weak in any depart- ment it probably was in its contribution to the sports world. To George Eastment ' s track squad they delegated the well-known John Quigley. One of Manhattan ' s real war heroes, he came back after three years of track inactivity to add speed and polish to the spiked shoe squad. Another stalwart run- ner was lean John Flmter, one of the better distance men in collegiate circles and captain- elect of the ' 48 cross-country squad. Former varsity football star, Walter Ludovico, was named president of Phi Epsilon Kappa, the professional Physical Education fraternity. The Junior class also numbered among its luminaries James Sheehy, the twice elected president of the Manhattan College Players, and Thomas Clark, former Student Council man and president of Beta Sigma Fraternity. There you have it, the history of the Junior class. Anno Domini 1947. The headlines were written by the above but each and every mem- ber of the class of ' 48 contributed a para- graph that cannot be measured in time or space but only in the minds and hearts of fellow classmates who shared with them a never-to-be-forgotten experience. 139

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dent of the Class of 1949, while George Kearin and Jim Ryan held dovsn the posts of Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. Our first awesome obstacle was the freshman class, the biggest in Manhattan ' s history. With little hope of coping with a group tiiat outnumbered us almost three to one, we ap- pomted Vincent Vitagliano as head of the Koran and Vigilante Committee. With an acti e campaign organized during freshman week, Vitagliano and his two chief opera- tives, Bill Rooney and Jack Ryan soon had a large number of freshman outfitted with green cap and a copy of the Koran. The most widely publicized and generally popular of the year ' s affairs was the Sopho- more Dance held m January at the Penn- sylvania under the title of The Winter Queen ' s Bali. The coronation of Ann O Rourke as Queen of the Quadrangle, chosen after three weeks of elimination beauty contests in The (JiiadrMigle. took place amid unanimous appri) al. It was about the time that every other song on every other juke box proved to be Buttermilk Sky, that out basketball team came on stage with a large sophomore star- ring cast, and a great number of their class- mates in supporting roles. Under Mr. liast- ment ' s able coaching a second delegation of Sophomores trod the boards in heavy roles, performing with a considerable degree of success. The months drifted past, and om- vitality expanded to e ery held — the incongruously muraled office of The Onculrcinglc. the swim- ming pool, the orchestra, the gymnasium, thc various organizational and fraternity groups and. as Spring came, the ba.seball field. As the first batted ball described its first arc, the spirit of Spring came and stalked the ver- dant walks of Manhattan, and we fell easy, somewhat willing, victims. Beneath the shade of Van (iourtiandt ' s trees, upon the library steps, besides the c]uadrange, we sprawled and yawned, and even tinned to bits of Shelley we should have read during the Winter. Pipes reappeared, poking out of coat pockets; we began to talk in terms of vacations and car-paintings; class-room windows were opened wide, all this — and June drew nearer. The final atliletic contests, the final exams. Commencement Day, and we stood at the half-way mark betv.een cur first step ont.i the Quadrangle and Senior Walk. We were Juniors — all else would be anticlimax. 141