THE MIRROR Student newspaper
Week of April 16, 2014
Vol. Vol.39, 38,Iss. Iss.25 23
www.fairfieldmirror.com @fairfieldmirror The Fairfield Mirror
$10 M donation will partially fund new RecPlex By Christina Mowry Assistant News Editor Last week an alumnus and trustee gave a monumental $10 million donation exclusively intended to partially fund the proposed renovation and expansion of the Quick RecPlex. However, the project, estimated to cost $20 million, is pending additional finances and approval from the board of trustees. The $10 million gift came from John C. Meditz ‘70, managing director, co-founder, and senior portfolio manager of Horizon Ki-
netics, LLC, and member of Fairfield’s board of trustees. Meditz has made large contributions in the past, including a $2.5 million gift which funded the Bellarmine Museum of Art in addition to numerous contributions which created student scholarships. According to a university press release, the renovation plans for the RecPlex include the addition of an indoor track, air-conditioned field house and additional floor space for sports programs. Swimming and diving locker rooms and multi-purpose exercise
rooms will be modernized. The new building will be 11,000 square feet larger and two stories tall. The renovated field house will also be utilized by varsity athletics when needed, according to Reed. According to Reed’s statement, “our tennis teams go offcampus to practice indoors during the winter or other times of inclement weather. We would like these teams to be able to practice on campus, so a permanent or temporary floor that is suitable for indoor tennis will be considered.” Thomas Pellegrino, vice pres-
ident for student affairs stated that “we want a facility that is competitive with what students see at other campuses. Meditz’s extraordinary donation could not come at a better time.” According to the press release, schematic plans are complete and all approvals have been granted from the Town of Fairfield, however additional fundraising is necessary for the project to become a reality. “When we [have] a funding plan in place, we will complete the remaining construction plans and
seek the approval of the Board of Trustees,” stated Mark Reed, senior vice president for administration. In a university press release, Meditz expressed the importance of investing in nonexistent or outdated facilities. Both Reed and Pellegrino agreed, and recognized the crucial role Fairfield’s many recreational facilities play in maintaining Fairfield’s reputation. Reed stated: “Ideally, we would like to see all or most of the remaining funds need[ed] come READ
RECPLEX ON PAGE 3
Yale chaplain to speak at graduation By Shauna Mitchell Editor-in-Chief By Jennifer Calhoun Executive Editor On April 10, Fairfield announced that Yale University Chaplain Sharon M.K. Kugler will be the commencement speaker for the undergraduate class of 2014. According to a university press release, Kugler is the first ever female, first Catholic and first layperson to be Yale’s chaplain. Kugler transferred to Yale in 2007 after working as the university chaplain for Johns Hopkins since 1993, and is currently a member of the executive committee of the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education. As chaplain, Kugler’s role is to support and guide students spiritually, which she may do through community activities and personal counsel. According to the press release, “Her main focus at Yale is ... serving the needs of the richly diverse religious and spiritual traditions on campus allowing for deeper dialogue, increased accessibility, personal growth, creative educational opportunities and pastoral leadership.” While Kugler does have the religious connection to Fairfield, some seniors said they wish there would be a more recognizable name standing behind the podium next month. “I would have preferred an [alumnus] or like a cool celebrity … someone I had known or like could have done a simple Google search on,” said Brian Gillespie ‘14. No matter who gives the address, Gillespie said he already knows what he wants to hear at graduation. “I’d want [the commencement READ
KUGLER ON PAGE 4
Jesse Erickson / The Mirror
DPS on bike patrol monitors students participating in “Around the World” near the Townhouses 5 block.
Fairfield travels ‘Around the World’ Mirror Staff Report
Despite controversy and prohibition from the administration, the members of the junior class gathered in the Townhouses area Saturday to celebrate their annual “Around the World” event. The event endured for several hours before the flags and costumes were retired. Following tradition, Townhouses represented countries from all over the world. Dean of Students Karen Donoghue, in cooperation with Residence Life and Department of Public Safety, said she was unable to work with students to plan this event with university sponsorship. According to Donoghue, “There were two different meetings that tried to bring student leaders that had come forward as potential people to kind of run the event to kind of monitor the event in the sense that we fence off the area, we still allow outdoor drinking,
but to sort of control the area,” however she was not directly involved in this process until after any plans to cooperate with students had fallen through. After the event’s failure to gain university sponsorship, anonymous
ghue, the university decided that additional ResLife staff and DPS should be present to help monitor the event, even though it was not university sponsored. “At no point am I saying that students have no right to socialize and I
I think a lot of people get along with Public Safety, but it’s frustrating to have them around ... but of course they have to watch out for us and make sure we’re safe. - Sean McDermott ‘15 members of the class of 2015 organized the event a through a Facebook page, where Townhouses could decide what country they would represent. Donoghue said the Dean of Students’ Office “had reason to believe that even though we asked them not to run it, they were going to run it,” so when the Around the World Facebook page was forwarded to Dono-
clearly articulate that but they have to adhere to policies and unless they’re working in the parameters of the institution in a controlled environment, they can’t drink outside.” In addition to the regularly staffed Resident Assistants, according to Rowe-Allen, seven ResLife staff members were present and approximately three to four staff members
were not dressed in the red polos that signify an RA on duty. According to Assistant Director of Public Safety John Ritchie, DPS mandated extra staff members to work the event. Despite Fairfield’s policy that prohibits open containers outside, students still brought solo cups, beer cans and bottles outside, which resulted in DPS alone documenting over two dozen people, according to Ritchie. However, the problems with this year’s event went even further than violating the open container policy. In recent years, Around the World has become a growing concern because of property damage and excessive drinking. “It’s not the students who are drinking a beer or two that I’m concerned about, it’s the ones that are doing multiple shots, abusive consumption of alcohol that goes on, which READ
ADMINISTRATION ON PAGE 2
-Stories in our DNA, pg 7 -Softball sweeps doubleheader with Monmouth, pg 5