Mirror - Vol. 33, No. 25 - April 10, 2008

              WEEK OF APRIL 10,2008
Vol. 37, Iss. 25 - 20 pages
FREE - Take one MIRROR WWW.FAIRFIELDMIRROR.COM
The independent student newspaper
of Fairfield University
BY JESS MITCHELL
Von Arx named the 2008 commencement speaker
University President Fr. Jeffrey von Arx,
who greeted the class of 2008 in his first year
as president, will speak at commencement on
May 18 on the Bellarmine Lawn.
During his first year as president, von
Arx was the speaker at the 2005 commence-ment,
and made it a policy to have a person
with Jesuit ties and a familiarity with the
University speak at commencement.
British Robinson, senior advisor for
public partnerships in the office of U.S.
Global AIDS coordinator, received mixed
reviews from students when she spoke in
2006. Beloved teacher Fr. Thomas Regan
returned to campus last May to deliver a
speech at graduation.
"The class of 2008 will always have a
special place in my heart because they were VON ARX
so welcoming and help-ful
to me in my new role
as president," said von
Arx in a University press
release.
"I entered with this
class and even though
I don't think I will be
graduating, I wanted to
speak to them at their
commencement and share in their accom-plishments.
This is truly a very gifted class
of students and it has been my privilege to
witness their transformation and many ac-complishments,"
he said.
The commencement speaker is chosen
from a pool of honorary degree recipients
with recommendations made by the Uni-
SEE "GRADS" ON P. 6
Bridging the gap
BY TOM CLEARY
Katie McCarthy/The Mirror
Bridging the gap: Fairfield announced last week that students from Bridgeport high schools who are accepted into
Fairfield and whose family income is under $50,000 will receive free tuition. This policy will benefit students such as
Bridge Academy's Antquanete Chism, pictured above.
When Timothy Dut-ton,
director of the Bridge
Academy Charter School,
heard about the new tuition
plan Fairfield created to aid
Bridgeport high school stu-dents,
he was immediately
excited, as it provided him
another opportunity to tell
his students they do have a
chance to go to college.
University President Fr.
Jeffrey von Arx announced
last Monday a new partner-ship
with the city of Bridge-port's
seven public and one
private high schools. The
plan will allow any student
who graduates and is accepted
into Fairfield, with a family
income under $50,000 a year,
to receive free tuition.
Depending on individual
circumstances, the University
may expand its plan to pay
for room and board, fees and
other expenses.
Already 24 students, six
currently enrolled at Fairfield
and 18 accepted members of
the class of 2012, have quali-fied
for the program.
"My school works very
hard to demystify the ac-
' INSIDE: '
CAN'T BUY ME
DIVERSITY
p.7
cessibility of college, how-ever
this message can be a
difficult sell," said Dutton.
"Announcements like the one
made by Fairfield go a long
way to
convinc-ing
Bridge-port's
youth of
the oppor-tunities
that await them."
Dutton has already seen
a positive result at his school,
where Antquanete Chism, a
member of the senior class,
has qualified for the free tu-ition
and been accepted into
Fairfield.
"With this wonderful gift
from Fairfield, now I have
the opportunity to fulfill my
dreams" said Chism.
Dutton added, "In addi-tion,
I used this announcement
to try and motivate a group of
our higher-achieving sopho-mores
andjuniors and was sur-prised
to see how the news did
affect and motivate them.
"I heard from a math
teacher later in the day that
he had heard students talking
about it."
SEE "NEW" ON P. 6
Protest put aside; Student leaders to give presentation instead
BY CHRISTOPHER HALISKOE
Many students are looking
for FUSA to cause a scene large
enough for the administration to
notice — those students will have
to wait.
The Senate decided Sunday
night that it would not protest on
Admitted Students Day on April
12. The Senate Student Life Com-mittee
initially told The Mirror
on April 1 that it would hand out
flyers to accepted students con-cerning
the Off-Campus Boarder
(OCB) lottery issue.
Over the course of the year,
the Senate has expressed com-
INSIDE:' " ": plaints regarding
! EDITORIAL I various issues
_ : with the lot-
: P 7 : tery, namely the
release of only four students per
group and the "gentleman's agree-ment"
with the town of Fairfield.
In October, students began to
register for the OCB lottery, which
grants them the right to live off
campus. On Oct. 29, 2007,400
students were released and about
100 students were wait-listed.
According to a Facebook
group created by FUSA Senate,
the OCB lottery is flawed because
a group of four students receives
four lottery numbers while a group
of one has only one chance. This
system would give a group of one
SEE "FUSA" ON p. 6
TJjjJuJJjJfl DJ DU-fiiiifJjjjJS BsmiilBi Jssii3
Students register
for OCB lottery
Letter is sent from Rich
(above) to Dean Pellegrino
Letter is returned to
Senate directing them
back to Downer
#
Felipe Polanco *01 (below)
speaks to FUSA Senate
about a student hunger strike
Senators lead forum
to discuss protest
Senators decide to not
protest, pursue forum
OCB results
posted
Topic discussed at
Senate meeting
Senate Chair Tim Rich '08 meets
with Jason Downer (above)
Senate takes out ad in
The Mirror regarding
housing lottery
A Senate committee
informs The Mirror
they plan to protest
rTi>e
Dean Pellegrino releases
open letter calling for a
public forum on OCB issue
Photo Illustration by Katie McCarthy