Seton Hall University - Galleon Yearbook (South Orange, NJ)

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Requiescot in Pace Right Reverend Monsignor John L. McNulty, Ph.D. LLD. Born — September 10, 1898 Died — May 27, 1959 10

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1960— Birth Of A Tradition One Year In Retrospect We returned to our Alma Mater in a September clouded with sadness; in the previous June we were grieved by the death of our president, Msgr. John L. McNulty. His passing was sorely felt and he will long be cherished for insuring the high position of Seton Hall as a symbol of higher Catholic learning. The emptiness was banished, however, and our fondest hopes were realized when the Archbishop gave to us as president, Msgr. John J. Dougherty. An eminei t scholar, he affords us great promise for the future. His Christmas message strengthened the ties among all members of the Seton Hall family. After a year highlighted by an invaluable re- treat and exceptional convocations in which student aspirations were heightened and encouraged, Seton Hall, in a moment of historical significance, awarded the first medical degree in the State of New Jersey. This was indeed a fitting challenge to the present stu- dents to rise to even greater heights. 9

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It is often only with hindsight, after the tempo of life slackens and the turbulence of the moment sub- sides, that the full stature of a man can be measured. On June 1, 1959, Msgr. McNulty was buried; anyone who surveyed the countless known and unknown mourners passing the bier in his cherished Seton Hall chapel, who witnessed the singular- ly impressive funeral Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral in the presence of several thousand friends, and felt the hushed atmosphere of the burial rites at Gate of Heaven Cemetary, would realize that the man who had just achieved his final rest was indeed a great man. Msgr. McNulty, when he died on May 27, was sixty years of age, thirty-four years a priest, and ten years president of Seton Hall Uni- versity. So beloved was he of thousands as a curate in the par- ish, as a teacher in the classroom, as a president in the university, that the adage, of the dead say noth- ing but good is unnecessary. He never husbanded his talents for him- self; never looked upon his cham- bers as an ivory tower. Though at times he was churned up or agi- tated, it was always for the victory of benevolence or the defeat of in- justice. During Msgr. McNulty ' s incum- bency Seton Hall grew apace: uni- versity status became actual; addi- tional buildings were purchased or constructed; two new schools, the School of Law and the School of Medicine and Dentistry, were es- tablished; a new college was n