Mirror - Vol. 31, No. 10 - November 10, 2005

              WEEK OF NOVEMBER 10,2005
Vol. 31, Iss. 10-24 pages
FREE - Take One
IThRe RMORmnAn
Shakeup in Student Services
Schimpf to retire; Reed appointed VP of
Student Affairs; Pellegrino named new Dean
WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.CDM
The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
BY ELIZABETH BAE
The Fairfield community is
torn between commending the
new administration switch-up and
vehemently opposing it.
Effective Jan. 1, current Vice
President of Student Services
William P. Schimpf will retire and
current Dean of Students Mark
Reed will take his place. Current
Acting Associate Dean of Stu-dents
and Director of Residence
Life Tom Pellegrino will take
Mark Reed's place and become
the new dean of students.
"I will miss the wonderful
staff with whom I work and the
students - both present and gradu-ates
- who I have had the pleasure
of knowing," said Schimpf, who
has served Fairfield for 37 years.
"I think that Mark [Reed] is a
very talented individual who has
significant experiences at Fairfield
which prepared him for this posi-tion,"
Schimpf said.
Some faculty members chal-lenge
these new administration
appointments.
"I am appalled by the lack of
a national search to fill these two
very important positions," said
Susan Rakowitz, assistant profes-sor
of psychology.
Rakowitz said the decision
"does a disservice to the students,
who deserve the best available
administrators."
She criticized University
President Rev. Jeffrey von Arx on
the diversity issue.
"The upper echelons of the
administration are probably the
whitest and malest sector on cam-pus,"
Rakowitz said.
Von Arx said "that's not the
case" and Martha Milcarek, as-sistant
vice president for Public
Relations, pointed out that the
Katie McCarthy/Mirror photo illustration
vice president for Information
Services and Fairfield librarian,
James Estrada is Hispanic, more
specifically Mexican-American.
"We remain totally commit-ted
to increasing and improving
diversity on campus," said von
Arx.
He said some steps toward
enhancing diversity include the
increase in minority enrollment in
the freshman class and the signifi-cant
increase in minority faculty
this year, which is not because of
affirmative action.
SEE "STUDENTS" ON P. 7
Students, faculty challenge
invite of Bush advisor
BY KELLY SHEEHAN
Hypocrisy.
This word ran through the head
ofCollege DemocratAndrew Fusco
'07 when he heard that Richard
Boucher, the deputy director of the
White House Office of Faith Based
and Community Initiatives, had
been invited to speak at the Quick
Center at the Monday launching
of The Center for Faith and Public
Life.
Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, S.J.,
President of Fairfield University,
met with several students, five
faculty members and Rev. Richard
Ryscavage, the director ofthe center,
last Friday to address concerns
regarding Boucher's invitation, von
Arx denied the Mirror's request to
sit in on the meeting.
After the meeting, Fusco told
the Mirror that "a great deal"
of professors share the same
concerns.
Professor of philosophy Joy
Gordon and professor of English
Robert Epstein, who attended the
meeting, agreed.
Prior to the event, Fairfield
purchased an advertisement that
ran in the New York Times, which
announced Boucher's invitation
for the first time. According to
Gordon, the notice that went out
to many members of the Fairfield
community only listed the papal
EXTENDED
COVERAGE
Center for Public Faith
launching draws praise,
criticism
Page 3
EDITORIAL
Whose faith?
Page 9
nuncio and the archbishop of
Washington as panelists.
But the exclusion ofBoucher's
invitation on the notice was only
one of a litany of complaints by
College Democrats and faculty.
"We are upset at the hypocrisy
SEE "VON ARX" ON P. 4
Senior planning 200 Nights alternative
BY LAUREN PEPICIELLO
Seniors passed the 200 nights
mark last weekend, but there is no
word of a school-supported replace-ment
for the 200 Nights celebration.
As a result, a Fairfield senior has
decided to take matters into her
own hands and plan a new tradition
-100 Nights.
"I want to plan something for
our class before graduation where
we can celebrate being seniors,"
said Ashlee Fox '06.
Fox, a member of FUSA and
the former class president, is taking
on the task of planning 100 Nights
alone. She is organizing it without
relation to FUSA or Fairfield Uni-versity.
Therefore, all of the plans
for this event will be communicated
by word of mouth.
"This event is going to have
nothing to do with the University,"
said Fox. "I will be talking to stu-dents
in person and off-campus. I
will not even be sending e-mails •
via Stagweb. This is going to be
completely separate from what
FUSA may be planning as a re-placement."
According to Fox, planning for
100 Nights is still in the prelimi-nary
stages. The date of the event
will be Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006. It
will be a semi-formal event and
will probably be held at a venue in
Stamford, Conn.
Fox added that she is looking
at venues right now and hopes to
book something by winter break.
But without funding from
FUSA, many students are wonder-ing
who will be paying for this
event.
"It will be paid for by the stu-dents,
but I am looking at ways to
make the event as inexpensive as
possible for them," said Fox. "We
might do appetizers or something
like that instead of a sit-down
dinner."
The former event, 200 Nights,
was for seniors to celebrate the 200
nights left until graduation. But this
year, administrators cancelled the
event because they claim it was
a liability for the university. Prior
to this being a FUSA event, it was
planned by the students indepen-dently.
This year, FUSA is looking
into an alternative event to replace
it. The Mirror reported last week
that FUSA is in the process of trying
to organize a new event.
Of the seniors interviewed,
many are happy that someone is
taking the initiative to plan this
event.
"We need to have something in
place of 200 Nights," said Christie
LaRusso '06. "I am happy that there
are seniors who are looking to do
something about it."
Katie Giusti '06 feels the
same way.
"I was so disappointed when I
heard about 200 Nights [being can-celled],
but this gives me something
to look forward to," she said.
Many of the students inter-viewed
did not know of Fox's plans
for 100 Nights, which is something
she plans on improving.
"I want people to know what
I am planning, because students
will only know about this event
through word of mouth," said Fox.
"I want students who are interested
in helping to come to me. I am open
to suggestions."
Mirror File Photo
A new tradition?: Ashlee Fox
'06, former class president, is
in the process of planning "100
Nights."