November,
Cabrini College, Radnor, Pa.
Vol. XXIII, No. 3
1976
Grace Hall -final fate pending by Maureen Larkin
Last semester, Cabrini requested the advice of Mr. Herbert Swinburne, an architectural advisor, concerning the reallocating of space within the buildings on the campus. Mr. Swinburne's suggestions were discussed and it was agreed that during the Christmas holidays of the 1976 academic year, his suggestions would be implemented. One of the recommendations made by Mr. Swinburne was to close Grace Hall as a dormitory. Then Grace Hall could be used for the Little Theatre, faculty offices, faculty secretaries, the admissions office, financial aid office and Academic Dean. However, since these suggestions were made and voted upon, an unexpected problem has emerged: the lack of residence facilities for men . With this new problem facing Cabrini, Mr. Swinburne was once again invited to come and offer his professional advice. After a lengthy Master Planning Committee meeting on October 7, Mr. Swinburne and selected committee members, who were Sister Mary Louise, Dr. Frank Saul, Dr. Dorothy Brown, Miss
Dianne Kerr, Fran MacDonald '77 and Mr. C. Roache, a trustee, narrowed the possible alternatives down to three feasible ones. The first proposal was to have seventy men residents and Counsel would have women residents and Counsel would have fourteen women. The problems that arose with this proposal is that women would have a choice between co-ed or single sex dormitories while men would have only co-ed facilities. The college could be sued for sex discrimination. Also, a separate exterior stairway to the second floor would have to be constructed to Wood crest. This proposal was rejected on the grounds that it was low on room count for women and high on the room count for men and the plan would cost too much money to enact. The second alternative was seventy women and thirty-four men in Woodcrest, with men, once again, residing on the second floor. Thirty-four women would live in the Mansion and twenty to thirty women would reside in Grace. Similar problems of the first alternative
were also present with this proposal. r: _:, would have only co-ed dormitory space and the college could be sued for 5:!X discrimination in housing, stairs wo u'd have to be constructed to the sec ond floor and economically, the plan would not be possible. The fin,I proposal planned for o ne hundred and one women in Woodcrest, thirty-four women in the Mansion and thirty men in Grace Hall. With this pl.in , there would be no unnecessary exp ense and the college could not be sued for sex discrimination in housing. If the third alternative . is accepted, Counsel may be used as the stu de nt service building. By doing this, all of the services would be centralized. On Nov. 2, a committee composed of a few students, faculty members a nd administrators met to take a fresh look at the situation and see if any other possibilities to answer the problem have been missed. If no other suitable suggestions arrive from this meeting, then the Master Planning Committee will send a formal plan to Sister Mary Louise who will decide the final fate of Grace Hall.
Finances offer no simple solutions by Cynthia DeRitis Students showed concern regarding financial aid to Cabrini College. Students present at the student body meeting, Oct. 12, were uncertain about some of the issues. They directed their questions to Mr. Gerald Satlow, financial aid director. Mr. Satlow said, "I felt comfortable answering questions and I didn't feel as though I was being attacked. I would be glad to do it again." Mr. Satlow said that he heard comments saying that "he weaved his way around answers." He commented, "I tried to answer the questions as directly as possible, but there are no simple answers." "The meeting seemed to be a clarification," ~aid Mr. Satlow. "It was an opening to a better understanding and a
closer working together to reach students and make them aware of the fact that financial aid policies of Cabrini are made to best serve the college community." It has only been seven years that Cabrini College has had a financial aid director . Mrs. Oristaglio, admissions director, dealt with financial aid for two years as part of the admissions processes to the college. For five years, Mr. Satlow has had the responsibility of financial aid in addition to his teaching. "About 70% of the students of the college receive financial assistance, including federal scholarships and loan assistance . Much more is being done at the present time to increase funds for students with success," said Mr. Satlow. Also present at this meeting of the faculty was Miss Dianne Kerr, acting dean of students .
Miss Kerr said, "I thought the meeting went well and I thought the students conducted themselves well. Mr. Satlow handled his position well." Miss Kerr also felt that "the students expressed a need to communicate in this issue." She also felt that "many students present had questions that disturbed them, but didn't express themselves." Miss Kerr said, "the financial aid issues are complicated. Students could do more about them, but there isn't enough active response." Students' reactions to the meeting were "Mr. Satlow addressed himself to the issue and followed the agenda. He tried to be fair but he couldn't really touch each individual's problem." One student felt he evaded the issue and wasn't satisfied with .the explanation of athletic scholarships.