Mallory Member Username: Mallory
Post Number: 97 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 1:56 pm: | |
From today's Ft. Myers News-Press (news-press.com)... The Rev. Joseph Fessio said he had no indication before Wednesday morning he would be asked to step down as provost, or chief administrator, of Ave Maria University in Collier County. Fessio said he was asked to a private meeting with chancellor Tom Monaghan, where he was asked to resign, clear his office and leave campus by the end of the day. “I asked for a reason but was not given one,” Fessio said. No reasons were given in a statement released by university officials, either. Calls to the university and to the development company planning the community around the fledgling Catholic school were referred to the public relations department. Spokesmen for the school said no elaboration beyond the statement would be made. The statement cites “irreconcilable differences over administrative policies and practices.” “There has never been any difference in our commitment to our mission or to the Magisterium of the Church,” the statement reads. “Nor is there any diminishment in our commitment to maintaining the highest quality of scholarship." If you think the moving of the Law College down here to Florida was big, you should read some of the blogs. Check out naplesnews.com. Some of the comments about Pizza Man are downright ugly. Basically, the view here is that it's Tom's way or the highway, and that is not sitting too well with people. The sentiment by residents down here is that Monaghan was already "run out" of Michigan. Many of the students are very upset. Sounds like he was a good guy. Biggest problem is, they've really offered no reason as to why the guy was fired, which only leads to more speculation. |
Aiw Member Username: Aiw
Post Number: 6214 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 1:59 pm: | |
Maybe he can give the job to the ghost of Bo? |
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 709 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 1:59 pm: | |
"fledgling Catholic school" I hope it dies! |
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 802 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 2:35 pm: | |
Why? |
Crawford Member Username: Crawford
Post Number: 51 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 2:48 pm: | |
I hope it dies a slow death. The country will be much better off without intolerant schools of religious indoctrination and hatemongering. The funny thing is that many of the people inclined to attend such an institution would be the first to complain about Madrassas in the Muslim world. Pot, meet Kettle. Also very funny that "Christians" would destroy a green, pristine section of Florida for an auto-oriented sprawlsville. What Would Jesus Destroy? |
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 803 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 2:51 pm: | |
Not very fond of them Christian types is ya Crawford? |
Crawford Member Username: Crawford
Post Number: 52 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 2:54 pm: | |
Um, I was raised Catholic. Not very knowledgable of the Bible or Catholicism is ya Irish-mafia? If you were I don't think you would endorse such a perversion of Jesus' message. |
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 804 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 3:03 pm: | |
I still am an active practicing Catholic Crawford. Perhaps you missed the Catechism class on tolerance? |
Gistok Member Username: Gistok
Post Number: 3875 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 3:22 pm: | |
It sure appears that Monaghan missed that class! He's such a buffoon... |
Crawford Member Username: Crawford
Post Number: 53 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 4:27 pm: | |
Of course one should show love and tolerance, even towards hatemongers and hypocrites, but the world will be much better off without such institutions based on perversions of Jesus' message. I looked on their website and it appears they eat pork and play sports with pigskin, yet Monaghan has been outspoken in his homophobia. The ban on eating or handling dead pigs and the ban on same-sex relations are from the exact same part of the Bible. |
Mccarch Member Username: Mccarch
Post Number: 112 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 4:49 pm: | |
How did "their" website inform you that "they" eat pork, Crawford? Was there a picture of Tom chowing down on a BLT? |
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 806 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 4:53 pm: | |
So you are suggesting that the biblically based ban on same sex relations is unique in Monahan's own private world vs. the rest of Christianity or in the majority of major religions in the world? and who gives a rip about his issues handling dead pigs? Look, I have no love of Monahan. He is personally responsible for destroying a Tigers team that had a lot more World Series ahead of them. I also have no love of people slamming Catholics or Christians because our theology doesn't happen to agree with theirs. If you don't like our religion, go practice some other religion. |
Mallory Member Username: Mallory
Post Number: 98 Registered: 05-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 4:55 pm: | |
You're right about the land that he bought. It's scrub in the middle of nowhere, but he's turning it into a city. And I thought Notre Dame fans had a big ego. Pizza man is putting them to shame. |
Spaceman_spiff Member Username: Spaceman_spiff
Post Number: 55 Registered: 02-2006
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 7:06 pm: | |
Father Fessio was likely fired for the same reason Prof. Rice was removed from the Board at AMSOL, he disagreed with the school's "primary benefactor" on a topic in which disagreement was not an option. Just speculation on my part, but there is a common perception of Monaghan having a dominant voice in the decisions regarding his investments/projects. I do not believe that AMU is a "intolerant schools of religious indoctrination and hatemongering". I do not agree that it should "die". I do feel empathy for the students who were deprived of a beloved faculty member without the courtesy of an explanation. -spiff |
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 2896 Registered: 10-2004
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 8:21 pm: | |
quote:Fessio said he was asked to a private meeting with chancellor Tom Monaghan, where he was asked to resign, clear his office and leave campus by the end of the day. Seems like a good deal to me. Monaghan used to expect to have his pizzas out by 30 minutes. This guy probably had the better part of eight hours... |
3rdworldcity Member Username: 3rdworldcity
Post Number: 576 Registered: 01-2005
| Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 - 10:04 pm: | |
He that has the gold makes the rules. |
Kronprinz Member Username: Kronprinz
Post Number: 169 Registered: 12-2006
| Posted on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 11:39 am: | |
http://www.catholicnewsagency. com/new.php?n=8938 update, all's well that ends well |
Goat Member Username: Goat
Post Number: 9305 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 11:46 am: | |
Irish_mafia, well said! I too am tired of the hate being displayed against Catholicism. The problem is that many people lump all Christians together which is abhorrently wrong. |
Rjk Member Username: Rjk
Post Number: 648 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 11:51 am: | |
Fr. Fessio kind of looks like Lloyd Carr. |
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 812 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 11:58 am: | |
Thanks Goat. |
Gistok Member Username: Gistok
Post Number: 3886 Registered: 08-2004
| Posted on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 1:25 pm: | |
Irish_mafia, while I usually take "the heathen's" with a grain of salt, I (a Lutheran) do get upset with people belittling the new pope. He's turned out to be much better than most people expected. I can't think of a better successor to Pope John Paul II. |
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 816 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Friday, March 23, 2007 - 1:28 pm: | |
So far so good. Gistok, I agree. ...but would Martin Luther? |
Tiorted Member Username: Tiorted
Post Number: 77 Registered: 02-2006
| Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 - 2:24 pm: | |
Washington Post article http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03 /24/AR2007032400970_pf.html Magnate's Decisions Stir Controversy Ave Maria University's Beginning Is Marked by Tension of Provost's Firing By Alan Cooperman Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, March 25, 2007; A03 Domino's Pizza magnate Tom Monaghan is using a large slice of his fortune to build a Catholic university in southwest Florida, exciting conservative Catholics with his dream of an academically first-class institution that is also solidly orthodox. But along the way, he has produced lots of controversy -- first over his plan for a surrounding town in which contraceptives would not be available, then over his insistence on transplanting a successful law school from Michigan to the new campus on the edge of Florida's Corkscrew Swamp... |
Ordinary Member Username: Ordinary
Post Number: 168 Registered: 06-2006
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 10:28 pm: | |
Monaghan is a jerk. |
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul
Post Number: 727 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Friday, March 30, 2007 - 11:30 pm: | |
That article phrased it well: "Institutional suicide" |
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway
Post Number: 1124 Registered: 11-2004
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 1:30 am: | |
It will be interesting to see what happens to this school when Monaghan is no longer in control there. Rev. Fessio is a Jesuit, and Jesuit order is renowned as the liberal wing of the church. If the Jesuits control this college, it could become just like any other liberal arts Catholic university, such as UofD Mercy or Notre Dame, when Monaghan relinquishes control. |
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia
Post Number: 851 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Saturday, March 31, 2007 - 4:57 pm: | |
Jesuits are often liberal and rather bad writers of music (especially in St. Louis), but they are about the best of breed for education. If this ends up as another traditional jebby school, Monahan will have actually done something good. |