Mirror - Vol. 14, No. 12 - January 25, 1990

              The
FairfieldMRRORV Volume 14, No. 12 Thursday, January 25, 1990 The Image of Fairfield
DiDonato Removed From Office
Pellegrino Sworn In As New FUSA President
Lynn Ann Casey
Editor-in-Chief
Thomas C. Pellegrino took
over the reigns of the FUSA Presi-dency
on Wednesday, January 17
after Warren DiDonato was de-clared
academically inelligible to
continue in this position.
Pellegrino, former Student
Legislature President, according to
the FUSA Constitution, was next
in line to DiDonato. He will hold
office until the next FUSA Presi-dent
is sworn in in the beginning of
April. Robert Housler will be the
acting Legislature President until
the next Senate President is elected
on January 30.
DiDonato will not be allowed
to take classes at Fairfield this
semester. At this time, his future
academic plans are unknown.
DiDonato was unavailable forcom-ment
at time of publication. The
College ofArts and Sciences would
release no information pertaining
to whether or not DiDonato would
be allowed to graduate from the
University sometime in the future.
"It is unfortunate that things
have ended up this way because I
think FUSA has gained respect
during Warren's term," said Pelle-grino.
While in office, DiDonato,
along with other key members of
FUSA, helped organize the stu-dent
protest concerning the hous-ing
lottery and the naming of the
chapel. He attempted to help in-crease
communication between the
sectors of the University.
"At this time ofyear and with
the position I'm in, yes I am pre-pared
to continue the job. I have a
lot ofgood people under me, other-wise
it would not be an easy tran-sition,"
said Pellegrino. "It was
also my knowledge of the
Constitution that made the transi-tion
smooth."
Mr. Jim Fitzpatrick, Assis-tant
Dean of University Activities,
said "It is a credit to Warren that
we don't anticipate problems with
the transition. FUSA is still func-tioning
very efficiently." Fitzpa-trick
's office is the initial link be-tween
the Student Association and
the administration.
"The position of FUSA President
is naturally difficult," said Pelle-grino.
He feels that time manage-ment
is essential to the position.
He also notes the importance of
delegating responsibility. He feels
that many of the people in the
FUSA cabinet are very capable
and willing to help him in this
transition.
"The FUSA presidency is a
tremendous challenge," said Fitz-patrick.
"It is difficult, but it is by
no means impossible." He says
that "Warren's devotion to the
University and FUSA was tremen-dous
but somewhere along the line,
the academic part ofhis like wasn' t
equal to FUSA."
Pellegrino is responsible for
resuming all the duties DiDonato
was responsible for. The majority
of the programming for this year is
done, but Pellegrino must main-tain
the programs and finish pro-gramming
for May Day weekend
in the Spring.
DiDonato was unable to
come through on his promise to
have a concert in the Fall semester.
Pellegrino will attempt to get a
concert for the Spring semester,
possibly for May Day weekend.
According to Fitzpatrick, a con-cert
will depend on the groups that
will be touring in Spring and the
dates they will be available.
It will also be Pellegrino's
responsibility to get the next FUSA
president acquainted with the pro-cedures
of FUSA.
Specifically, Pellegrino notes
two things he would like to do this
semester. He hopes to have the
Student Telephone and Address
Guide (STAG) out by the second
week in February. Problems with
the database in the FUSA office
have delayed its publication.
He also wants to "develop a
modified system" that would
monitor members of the FUSA
cabinet so that something like this
could not happen again. Cabinet
members must maintain a 2.4 grade
point average to continue their
positions. He hopes to find a sys-tem
that would help members keep
up with their academic life.
Pellegrino is a Politics major
from East Haven, Connecticut.
After graduating Fairfield, he plans
on attending law school. Eventu-ally,
he plans on entering the edu-cational
field.
Thomas Pellegrino Photo: Rich Nunziante Warren DiDonato File Photo
Lowery: "Hold Fast the Dream"
Tom Rhatigan
Assisstant News Editor
" To truly honor Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., we must not only
honor the man, but his message!,"
said Joseph E. Lowery, President
of the Southern Christian Leader-ship
Conference, which he co-founded
with King.
In his lecture last Thursday,
Lowery called the 90's the "dec-ade
of decision" as compared to
the 80's being the "decade of
chaos". He said it is going to be a
challange to deviate from the char-acteristics
of the 80's, and many
new decisions are going to have to
be made.
This holiday, he said, is a
Joseph E. Lowery PR Photo
unique opportunity not only to
honor Dr. King but to honor the
nation and its people. "We should
honor the people who have been
part of the movement, as well as
the nation itself, which has em-braced
the dream led by Dr. King,"
said Lowery.
He cautioned us, however, to
be careful of turning the holiday
into a "sentimental journey", be-cause
"sentiment impedes the
movement". There is a danger of
simply honoring the man, not his
message. He added, "We must be
reminded of his mission and we
must embrace the mission. This
holiday is not simply a ceremony."
Dr. King believed in the
oneness of the human family and
Lowery said we must reembrace
and reaffirm this oneness for a
brighter tomorrow. He quoted Dr.
King saying, "People should not
be judged by the color oftheir skin,
but by the content of their charac-ter!"
Lowery also discussed the
struggle of flu poor and the op-pressed.
"The struggle is the heart
and soul of the movement and that
is how progress is measured," he
said.
According to Lowery, this
struggle is an economic struggle,
where the priviledged do not share
what they have to the underpriv-continued
on page 2
Fairfield Honors
Martin Luther King Jr.
Tom Rhatigan
Assisstant News Editor
"Be King For A Day" was
the theme of the Fifth Annual Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
Observance held at Fairfield Uni-versity
on January 17 and 18.
Fairfield closed on Mon-day,
January 15, in observance of
the national holiday . King was
honored on Wednesday with the
showing of the film "King," a
life story, and with a lecture by
Joseph E. Lowery, President of
the Southern Christian Leader-ship
Conference, on Thursday.
"This holiday observance
is not just a holiday, but a reaf-firmation
of the committment of
the ideals and principles of Mar-tin
Luther King," said Dr. Larri
Mazon, Director of the Office of
Minority Relations. "This repre-sents
the spirit and embodiment
of making his dream come true."
The Martin Luther King
Holiday Observance at Fairfield
has been an annual occurance
since his birthday was made a
national holiday. For the past five
years the Office of Minority
Relations, with the Martin Lu-ther
King Holiday Observance
Committee, have organized lec-tures
and films to honor Dr. King.
Moreover, the Office of
Minority Relations will offer the
Martin Luther King Youth Lead-ership
Workshop, which will be
held on Feb 1. From 10:00 to
1:00, where high school and
middle school youths can come
to Fairfield to learn leadership
skills.
Then from 1:00 to 3:00, as
a celebration of black history,
Fairfield University is presenting
"Beyond the Dream", which is a
tribute to the contributions black
Americans have made. It high-lights
achievements and focuses
on contemporary issues in the
areas of education, history, civil
rights, and politics
The theme "Be King For
A Day" is to reflect and to emu-late
the practices of Dr. King.
"We have to ask ourselves what is
the best I can do to fulfill Dr.
King's dreams for America," said
Mazon. "We have to look at his
message and attempt to create a
difference.
"This holiday is not for
minority students only, but it is
everybody's holiday," added
Mazon. "Dr. King believed in the
Constitution and believed that all
men are created equal."