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VOLUME
6 • CHAPTER 2 • April
2006
CAMPION REBORN? Fr. David Haschka, S.J. (Class of '61) is in the process of establishing a new Jesuit high school here in the Twin Cities. Dave will focus on providing the Jesuit education experience to kids whose families can not afford a private school. Essentially, the working capital will come from donations from corporations and individual givers. He hasn't named the school yet. I suggested that Dave name it Campion and he said he would if he could raise enough money to "sponsor" the name. If anyone would be interested in funding the formation of a new Campion Jesuit High School, please let me know and I'll get the details about how to donate. Joseph M. Haschka, CTP Vice President Dear Knights: I am Joe's elder brother and Campion class of 1961. I (a Jesuit since 1965) have been assigned to lead the effort to establish a new Jesuit high school in Minneapolis following the model established by the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago. Following a 9 month feasibility study, we have just received approval and commitment from both the Wisconsin Province of the Jesuits, and the Cristo Rey Network to proceed -- with the target of enrolling the first freshman class in August of 2007. This school is intended to provide a high quality, private, Catholic, college-prep, education exclusively for low-income students who have no other options to a public school system which typically fails to prepare them for a productive life. For a good perspective on the Cristo Rey model and network, please visit www.cristoreynetwork.org. In the interim, we will be establishing the school corporations (there are two -- one for the corporate internship program) developing a building, recruiting and nurturing sufficient business partners (that employ the students) developing our curriculum and educational strategies (to best serve diverse students from generational poverty); establishing relationships with families and communities from which we can recruit a full class of students, and trying to raise a good deal of money. I am really pleased to see this blossoming of interest from Campion Alums. I have asked the Jesuit Partnership, the fundraising arm of the Wisconsin Province, about setting up a program whereby Campion Alumni can specifically support the establishment of this new high school. Perhaps we can establish a funding target that would warrant adopting the name and heraldry of the old Campion. We will keep you posted. Meanwhile, if you are itching to show support and encouragement for this effort, you can make a donation now -- to the Jesuit Partnership and earmark it for the Twin Cities Jesuit High School Project. Thank you again for your interest. We will keep you posted. In the Lord,
I could not identify the new graphic on our home page since we have not visited Prairie du Chien since the spring of 1947, we had no idea what building it is. At that time, we checked with our New York agent, Paul McCullough ‘70 to give us a hand. Here’s what Paul had to say: This is the main entrance to Hoffman
Hall, Campion's athletic center (built in 1963). The turquoise room at the
top of the stairs is the Hoffman Lounge. Also at the top of the stairs to
the right is the entrance into Hoffman Gym. Entry to the pool was by another
series of doors. THE WHITE HOUSE Dear Father Kalb: My congratulations to you and all the generous alumni and benefactors who have made possible the dedication of Campion's new athletic Center and swimming pool. The program and facilities to promote physical strength and fitness that you have achieved at Campion are pacesetters in our efforts to provide for the needs of American youth. It is my pleasure to extend congratulations also on Camp Campion, your new summer camp which will open this summer. The use of your facilities on a year-round basis will provide a special opportunity for younger children to benefit from a directed program in sports and physical fitness. Your sports and physical fitness programs are a part of your total excellent academic tradition under which Campion students earned the greatest number of national Merit scholarships in Wisconsin this year. This balanced educational program is evidence of Campion's excellence in providing a well-rounded education for American youth. Sincerely, (Signed) John F. Kennedy This letter gleaned from Tom Olson’s great website, CAMPION-KNIGHTS.ORG A related story sent to us by Mike Kelly ’58:
Another Train Ride Campion Forever: I very much appreciate the work you are doing to keep rusty and decrepit old Knights informed and recalling for them the many "magic moments". I had the opportunity of not only attending Campion as a student but of returning there as a Jesuit Scholastic. Being a student was fun but can't compare wi1h being a teacher and prefect. I could write a book of anecdotes about the boys and their escapades One example: on the annual return trip on the Zephyr, I went back to the club car to clear our boys out. This was the routine after Aurora — I went to the far end of the car and announced "All Campion boys finish up the cokes and leave the club car." They did and all filed out. I followed them and a man sitting with his wife confronted me "How'd you do that? I have two teen age boys and I can't get them to do anything like that?" The only thing I could think of was "They're Campion boys." And as I left the club car I thought that my answer had to be the dumbest remark I ever made. But it wasn't. Actually, those "Campion Boys" were more than just a single mark "above". They not only learn how to take responsibility for their acts but they reflected again and again what their parents had instilled in them. In point of fact, we could only build on something that had to be there before they ever got off that train for the first time. Campion Forever gives credit to this priest or that scholastic. Somewhere along the line the real credit should be acknowledged as coming from the parents. John O’Connell ‘46 From Pat Finneran ’53:
Fr. Thon's Closing Remarks
Former Campion Dean of Students Andrew J. Thon, S.J. attended the class of 1970's 35th year reunion at Chicago's Union League Club on October 29, 2005. He shared two experiences that occurred during the school's final days.
In early 1975, the town of Prairie du Chien replaced the street signs along Campion Boulevard. Immediately after the announcement of Campion's closing, the street signs disappeared. The sheriff contacted Fr. Thon's office and indicated that while they strongly suspected that Campion students had taken the signs as keepsakes, the town and Chamber of Commerce had invested a considerable amount of money in acquiring them (they were made of heavy metal and were painted with black and white porcelain paint). In order to avoid any interaction between the police and the school, he requested that the signs be returned - no questions would be asked. A number of signs were recovered and were returned to the town. Later, Fr. Thon found an envelope under his office door containing a note describing in general terms that, if the signs were really wanted, arrangements could be made for them to be returned to the school. One night shortly thereafter, in an apparent ruse, Fr. Thon was called to the Campion tennis courts. Arriving alone, he found the signs in a cloth bag placed in the center of the courts. On the night of Saturday, May 24, 1975, during Campion's final baccalaureate mass and subsequent reception in Loyola Hall, Fr. Thon was again contacted by the PDC police who complained that the students were allegedly up in the bluffs wandering around, starting small fires, and would they please be returned to the campus. It was a humid, misty evening, with periodic showers. With flashlights in hand, Fr. Thon and Fr. Al DiUlio, SJ. (ordained a priest in Campion's Our Lady Chapel in May 1974) headed up into the bluffs. They did not find anyone (naturally) and they frequently tripped and lost their footing in the darkness. After scouring the bluffs for a while and after much grumbling and cursing, they decided to end their search and return to the school, with Fr. DiUlio commenting, "After 95 years, is this how it all ends?" The following was submitted by Moose Adler ‘54 1/31/2005
Last week, West Valley College named one of its buildings after Michael Fox. Sr. (Campion ’54) In a ceremony attended by large numbers of Mike Fox's admirers, college trustees read a lengthy proclamation, which listed Fox's truly extraordinary fund-raising successes. But it wasn't until others spoke that we were told about this man's profound influence on our community. Chamber of Commerce chief Jim Cunneen probably came closest to doing that — reminding us that Fox has been a leader in the development of our airport, in the United Way, in the founding of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, in any number of our arts organizations. And here's something you may not know: Why do you suppose our convention center carries the name of Tom McEnery? And why is our airport now called the Mineta San Jose International Airport? Answer: because Mike Fox thought those were good ideas — and made the name changes happen. In short, he's probably the single most influential non-elected citizen of our community, and it’s typical of Fox that he shares his accolades with the warm, graceful and quietly influential woman, we know as his wife, Mary Ellen. Congratulations to West Valley College for a very popular decision. ..................................................................................... Michael E. Fox Sr. never became a Catholic priest as he had once planned, nor did he run for Congress. But that hasn't stopped him from staying active in his community and becoming successful in the Silicon Valley. With a ground swell of support from every part of the West Valley Mission Community College District, the 68-year-old Saratoga resident is being honored on January 27 for his commitment to improving education and his community. At a special dedication ceremony, the college district's board of trustees will commemorate a yet-to-be-built campus technology building at West Valley College as The M.E. FOX CENTER. "I understand that the building’s in the heart of the campus," Fox says, jokingly. "And all the young girls will hang out there because they're foxes.” On a more serious note, Fox said he was shocked and overwhelmed by the news and extremely appreciative of the recognition, especially since there's never been a building named after anyone on the campus. Joe Samuels, West Valley’s vice president of instruction, says the designation couldn't be more fitting. "Mike has done so much for our college and our community. He's been an instrumental person on our Advancement Foundation Board for many years, and has been there not only for our college but for Mission College," Samuels says. "It seems so right for me that our first building that has been constructed since 1968 bears his name. I can't think of a better person because he truly is someone who bas dedicated his time, his energy and his money to this college. ''Now a lot of people give money to colleges, but he gives his time and his energy." Fox's wife of 45 years, Mary Ellen, says she, too, approves of the building's name. "I like it because it's my initials, too," she says. "I'm kidding. I had nothing to do with it. I'm thrilled for him. He's had a lot of awards, but nothing quite so spectacular. This is sort of the capping of his career.”
TIME .... Dimension or delusion?
Man presupposes that the universe is five billion years old, give or take a few thousand years. They say the big bang was the first explosion, and that was outward. If that's so, how can galaxies collide? Doesn't that deny the big bang? Is time a delusion or a dimension without a beginning? No big bang, always was...always will be, no zero time. If no zero time, then no beginning — Forever. Maybe time began with the spoken word as man calculated to give himself self order. Man's time is very accurate so long as man is available to make changes to fix miscalculations. A supposed cosmic constant, the speed of light, is altered by gravity and distances which when adjusted by man then becomes useful to man's time. So is time a dimension to be manipulated by variances to fit man's time line? If time is man's calculation, is it a true dimension or a meaningful comparison to something man made? But to draw a line in the sand really meant that when the sun or it’s shadow touched the line, the allotted time was over. Is time a dimension or a useful delusion? Bob Kieswetter ‘50 This is for friends & acquaintances of: Kevin R. Keough:
Kevin R. Keough '65 Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much. The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils. Two vultures board an airplane, each carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at them and says, "I'm sorry, gentlemen, only one carrion allowed per passenger." A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?" they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer." • Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree. • There is always a lot to be thankful for, if you take the time to look. For example, I'm sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt. • One reason to smile is that every seven minutes of every day, someone in an aerobics class pulls a hamstring. • Car sickness is the feeling you get when the monthly payment is due. • The best way to keep kids at home is to make a pleasant atmosphere - and let the air out of their tires. And finally, there was a man who sent ten different puns to friends, in the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did JESUITS ARE HOPING TO RECLAIM A SCHOOL BAGHDAD — Al Hicks was a young Jesuit priest from Needham in 1960 when he boarded a steamer in Hoboken for a three-week passage to the Middle East, and toward a dream that would transform his life. His destination was Baghdad College, a Jesuit run high school that had become a 20th century oasis of elite education and Christianity in Iraq. For Hicks, a mathematician, this ''school at the end of the world'' would teach him and other Jesuits the meaning of their mission as ''men for others'' — offering a warm hand and rigorous education to both Catholics and Muslims who would later become the backbone of Iraq's middle class as doctors, engineers, and intellectuals. But real world politics soon intruded on this lush Eden in desert like Baghdad. Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party expelled the 33 priests in 1969 and seized the school in retaliation for what it saw as America's pro Israel policy in the aftermath of the Six Day War. The loss was heartbreaking for the ''Fatheria,'' as locals called the Jesuits; many wished to join their five brothers someday in a tiny graveyard near the school's playing fields. Now the fall of Hussein has given fresh hope to New England's branch of the Society of Jesus, which dominated the school's faculty and now is seeking to reclaim a piece of the school or else revive a new ministry here. ''The question of Baghdad College — who it belongs to — will come up now that the war is over,'' Hicks said in an interview in Amman, Jordan, where he is working at a Jesuit mission after stepping down as principal of Boston's Nativity Preparatory School. ''We created the school. And we still love it.'' The Jesuits' claim over their former property — the four-building school and its grounds, shadowed by beautiful groves of date palms; a simple brick Catholic church; and a handsome mansion that houses a seminary — is an open question, like most legal matters in postwar Iraq. The courts reopened in Baghdad only Thursday, and Lieutenant General David McKiernan, commander of the US troops here, demurred the same day when asked if civil law, martial law, or some other code is now in effect here. The Jesuits say a letter should exist, somewhere at the school, authenticating their ownership rights. But they acknowledge that their arguments may be as much moral as legal, because thorough record keeping was not a priority of the previous regime. ''The reason we're in Amman is Baghdad,'' said Father Kevin G. O'Connell, pastor of the Sacred Heart Parish and head of Amman's Jesuit Center, which opened 14 years ago. ''For the last three or four years, talk of moving back to Baghdad has been the hot topic. There's a ministry we think we can provide.'' Baghdad College is still among this city's best high schools, requiring an entrance test for its 1,075 boys and offering a rigorous curriculum of math, science, English and other languages, fine arts, and history. ''The classes about Saddam's life and speeches have been eliminated,'' said English teacher Mudhaffar Hasso, who attended the school under the Jesuits. But the school no longer has the PhD credentialed faculty that the Jesuits comprised, or the highest scores on state graduation exams. And years of campus oversight by Hussein's son Uday led to a state of neglect, according to teachers and the school's headmaster. Uday's only innovation seems to have been the insistence during the 1990s that science be taught in English so that students might be more competitive internationally. ''The state of our education was much better when the fathers were here than it is now,'' said Jacob Joseph, a biology teacher who joined the faculty a year after the Jesuits were expelled. But Iraqis are reluctant to cede any control of the school, saying Catholics are still welcome in the classroom, and there is no need for the Jesuits to return. ''Whether they can come back depends on the new regime,'' headmaster Sarmad Fawzi says. ''The state owns the school. No one knows if the fall of Saddam changes it.'' In their early days here, the Jesuits' major headaches came not from the Iraqi government, but from Rome. Pope Pius IX wanted a Catholic college here, while the Vatican's Oriental Congregation sought only a boardinghouse from which priests could minister and assist students in government schools, according to a book detailing the history of the college, ''Jesuits by the Tigris.'' But the Jesuits shared the goal of the patriarch of Chaldean Catholics here, whose wish was for a secondary school for boys. With eight American Jesuit colleges pledging sponsorship and aid, the Jesuits persuaded Vatican officials to prepare young men for college, rather than run a college themselves. Once the school opened in 1932, dozens of Jesuits sought the assignment in Baghdad; the bulk came from the New England branch of the Society of Jesus, with its relatively large faculties at Catholic colleges and schools. To many of them, Baghdad was the essence of missionary work through education. There were few Christian conversions. The Jesuits provided a new home to Baghdad's small, poor Catholic population and turned the school into one of the most elite academic centers in the city. The campus also drew Assyrians and Armenians, with Muslims making up about half of enrollment. ''We had Sabeans, who lived by the river, who followed John the Baptist. Then there were the Yezidis, who were devil worshipers,'' Hicks said. ''The Bedouins came, though they were asked to leave their pistols and daggers at the door.'' The flavors of Iraq proved intoxicating, too: rice with roasted nuts and raisins, and meals of mazgouf -- fresh fish split open and lightly smoked over charcoal — and beer while sitting by the Tigris River at night. At Christmastime the Jesuits would visit their students' families. Most of the priests didn't smoke or drink liquor, but good manners meant never refusing the plentiful cigarettes and shots of whiskey. ''By the end of the day, we'd be delirious,'' Hicks said. The Jesuits ultimately did start a college, Al-Hikma University, meaning ''Seat of Wisdom.'' (The name Jesuit University was discarded in a nod to the school's Muslim allies.) The Iraqi government donated 168 acres for al-Hikma, and by 1968 it had 700 students — one-fifth of them women — studying business administration and engineering. At the same time that both schools were growing in enrollment and popularity, the Ba'ath Party was emerging as the new power in Iraq. After Israel vanquished its Arab adversaries in the 1967 war, the climate for the Jesuits here turned chilly. A year later, the al-Hikma Jesuits were expelled, and a similar order was sent to the high school in September 1969. The Chaldeans were given charge of the church and seminary, and a 5-foot wall was built to separate both from the campus. ''Baghdad College is an excellent school, but the government intends to Iraqicize it,'' an Iraqi intelligence officer told one Jesuit campus leader, according to ''Jesuits by the Tigris.'' Hicks and O'Connell, now based just three hours from the Iraqi border, say the current number of Jesuits — more than 20,000 worldwide — is declining, and running a school in Baghdad may prove too much for the society. But they say even four or five Jesuits could play a significant role in strengthening Iraqi society. Hicks imagines walking the grounds again, seeing old friends and former students, perhaps even offering an algebra lesson. ''I'm more sad about the loss of the school now than I was then,'' he said. ''It was a great school. It would have made such a difference to those people.'' OBITS James Howland '46 We also received this note: Marianne Kochanski Mister Kochanski was a Scholastic at CHS in the mid 40s (monitoring us in the Campion Hall dorm while safely tucked into our little Dilbert cubicles) and later left the order and married. And this one: Most sincerely, Diane B. Manning And this one: Thank you for your time. From John Duskey '63: AT SEVENTY: THE HEREAFTER Do you find yourself lately thinking about the hereafter? For instance, last week our pastor said to me after mass that it was time to be thinking about the hereafter. My reply was “sure , I think about the hereafter a lot.” he said, “You do?” “Sure. I’m sitting in the living room when a commercial comes on. So I get up and go to the kitchen, and stand there wondering: now what am I here after? Why is it that we are fuzzy about last week, but very sharp about stuff from fifty and more years ago? why, we can easily recall things that people today never heard of, like ink wells, and blotters. like Burma Shave signs. Like exactly where we were when we heard about Pearl Harbor. Ah yes, those were the days, right? That was before television, before penicillin, before mairzy doats, long before software! It was long, long ago and far, far away. But some things never change. Some things are so vivid and powerful that even after seventy plus years we’ll drop everything to attend a fancy dinner and weekend just to be with old friends, and wallow in the memory of those days ... where we were in 1944, in the midst of World War II - - -13 and 14 year old kids, just out of 8th grade, shipped to the western Wisconsin outback. Most of us were alone, a long way from home for the first time. And there we were, just starting high school, out in the wilderness. Yes, we remember it well. So well that we celebrate the years at Campion. A school where we essentially came of age — where, as the ad assured us, a boy would become a man — maybe even a gentleman! It was a place where we learned to choose right from wrong: we had to! Run by Jesuits who wanted us to learn, and grow, and succeed. Nice thoughts by Carl Bachle ‘48
As we mentioned in the January newsletter, we have committed over 100 more grads to our great Florida JUG. This means that there will be no communication whatsoever with these gents. Those folks have not contributed to our cause since 2002. Either from lack of interest, or perhaps they are deceased and we have not been so advised. To you who are new to the program, please know that we can exist only with donations from y’all. We exempt the Jesuits and other religious men and women. Thus your contributions help support these folks as well as yourselves. We ask for about $10.00 a year, although our average donation is well over that. We prefer voluntary donations rather than dues or subscriptions. We do not police our website, nor do we wish to password protect it. Those of you who access the site for newsletters, etc., please understand that the site costs us money just as the USPS does for our service. We’ll be back in July, be the Lord be willin’ and the crik don’t rise. Best regards, Aaron Huguenard ‘47 2006 ALL CLASS REUNION REPORT Our crowd was relatively small and cozy, primarily due to the fact that we had several folks affected by the flu bug. Ed Rogers ’48 did a great job with the party. The hotel went overboard to please us. Marvelous meals, as well as a very courteous staff. On Saturday, as a forecast cold rain held off, we took a tram tour of old St. Augustine. Most interesting. But most of the entertainment, as usual, was created with reminiscing about the good old days. Father Greg Lucey was in attendance and graced us with a very nice talk. We will publish his words in an upcoming newsletter. For lots of pictures, go to the REUNIONS tab on our front page. 
REVELATION 3:20 When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message: "Genesis 3:10." Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked." |
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