Both candidates are looking to gain momentum prior to Tuesday’s primary election.
By Peter Dewey
HAMDEN — Democratic candidates Mayor Curt B. Leng and challenger Councilwoman At-Large Lauren Garrett engaged in a primary debate on Wednesday Sept. 4 at Thorton Wilder Hall, less than a week before the primary election.
The debate was put on by the League of Women Voters of Hamden-North Haven, with more than 200 people attending. Residents were able to submit written questions at the debate for review and submission to moderator Ray Andrewsen.
“I was very impressed with the turnout,” Rod Groff, a Hamden resident, said. “I haven’t seen the room this full before.”
The two candidates were able to advocate for their campaigns ahead of the Democratic primary election on Tuesday Sept. 10.
Leng and Garrett touched upon many issues including reducing pollution, preparing for storms, making schools safer, developing parts of town such as High Meadow and bringing more taxable businesses to Hamden.
However, the biggest issues stemmed from the town’s financial crisis where the two went back and forth for much of the debate.
Garrett: “I know what is keeping these people up at night.”
“I guess overall I was a little underwhelmed,” Groff said. “There are a lot of big issues right now for Hamden. From what I’ve read our level of debt is [nearly a billion dollars]. I don’t feel like they really addressed that elephant in the room.”
While the New Haven Register reported in June that the town’s debt had climbed to $1.1 billion, the candidates didn’t quite offer solutions, but rather tried to justify their positions on the crisis.
“We have a five-year plan,” Leng said. “We have a ten-year plan and we have one-year plans. The problem with anything that you write down is it is going to evolve year to year. It is going to evolve when your revenues change and when your contracts change.”
Garrett, who first won a seat on the Legislative Council in 2017, has worked on approving where the town’s money is spent, enacting town ordinances, decreasing the budget and other things.
Garrett believes that Hamden must become more financially responsible in order to sustain itself over the long-term.
“There was a financial plan in 2015,” Garrett said. “Since then there has not been a financial plan. This has been demanded by the council and nothing has been delivered on that. If there is a financial plan and it’s not being shared, that is not transparency.”
Her campaign website cites improved spending of tax dollars as well as economic development as key issues to address.
“I have been working to bring transparency and accountability to our budgeting process in Hamden,” Garrett said in her opening statement. “I think we need to start having honest conversations with our residents about where we are at financially so that people can see when these types of high taxes are going to end.”
Despite Garrett’s questioning of the handling of the town’s budget as well as its sustainability, Leng was adamant that improvements were being made, telling the crowd multiple times to not fall into that “narrative.”
“We’ve worked towards fixing our pension fund,” Leng said. “Our pension fund was only nine percent funded a decade ago. It’s 38 percent funded now. We’ve put $64 million into the pension over the past four-plus years.”
While a number of issues were touched upon during the debate, Justin Farmer of the Hamden Town Council’s fifth district would’ve liked to have heard more from the candidates.
“We have long-term plans,” Farmer said. “The average mayor lasts for about six years so I wanted them to talk about longer term than five year plans, what things did they want to develop in the next ten years and set the trajectory to allow people to come in to set up and see [Hamden] grow.”
Farmer said he wished to hear the candidates talk more about issues already facing Hamden such as developing northern Hamden and affordable housing.
“Whatever financial hardships we have, it’s going to take awhile,” Farmer said. “But the light at the end of the tunnel, there has to be a plan.”
The two candidates also touched upon Hamden’s relationship with Quinnipiac, both citing the fact that too many students are in residential neighborhoods.
“It’s a real challenge,” Leng said, as he explained that it is too easy for student housing permits to be renewed despite there being multiple violations. “The State of Connecticut needs to empower towns to be able to reject a permit renewal based on bad behavior. We can’t do it now and it is really, really needed.”
Leng also cited some positives, stating that Quinnipiac President Judy Olian has shown a dedication to supporting the community and that the university is a large driver in the town’s economy.
“We should be asking ‘How do we embrace the fact that we are a college town?’” Farmer said. “We have Quinnipiac, we have Yale, we have Southern down the street, how do we embrace that culture as a college town rather than have this narrative that students are so horrible?”
Leng is looking to begin his third full term as mayor, should he win the primary and the general election. While the incumbent received the endorsement from the Democratic Town Committee, Garrett was able to petition for a primary election, receiving over 1,200 signatures.
Leng has already been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, despite the fact that most federal officials wait until after the primary election to endorse a candidate.
“I’m looking forward to voting on Tuesday,” Groff said. “But I’m also looking forward to hearing the other side and seeing what the Republicans put forward for November. I’ll definitely come to that debate as well.”
Leng and Garrett will face off in another debate on Friday Sept. 6 at Whitney Center at 8:30 a.m. Registration and a $20 fee is required. See the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce for more details.
The winner of the Sept. 10 primary election will be pinned up against Republican nominee Jay Kaye in the November election on Nov. 5.
The owner of a Hamden deli frequented by Quinnipiac University students pleaded guilty to one count of federal tax evasion last week and faces up to five years in prison, as well as a hefty restitution.
Ray George, 52, owns Ray & Mike’s Dairy and Deli at 3030 Whitney Ave. and is a popular fixture at the bustling shop.
Ray George, 52, owns Ray & Mike’s Dairy and Deli, a business that has served Hamden for 21 years. Pictured here in a photo from the deli’s website, George pleaded guilty to one count of federal tax evasion on Friday, May 17.
But, according to a Monday release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for Connecticut, George “underreported his income by approximately $365,065 for the 2012 tax year and by $273,108 for the 2013 tax year, and failed to pay a total of approximately $220,000 in taxes.”
George evaded his federal income taxes in multiple ways, the court documents say, using his Ray & Mike’s business account for personal expenses, failing to deposit cash receipts from the deli into his business account and using a portion of the cash to fill an in-store ATM and not reporting the cash as income.
The court documents also say George deposited three checks totaling nearly $300,000 from the Ray & Mike’s business account into his personal investment account, without reporting the funds as income in any capacity, and then withdrew funds from the investment account to purchase personal investment properties.
He also deposited a $25,800 check from the Ray & Mike’s lottery account into his personal investment account without reporting them.
George waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty on Friday, May 17 in the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.
George faces a fine of up to approximately $440,000, as well as potential jail time. He has agreed to pay back taxes of $220,663, plus interest and penalties.
The 21-year-old business is known best for its sandwich menu, as well as the fact it is open seven days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays and during winter storms.
It has been 10 years since the editors ofThe Quinnipiac Chronicle stepped down from their positions to form the student-run off-campus newspaper,The Quad News. It has been 10 years since student journalists took it upon themselves to develop their own media outlet after they believed university administration was denying their first amendment rights and censoring their work.
It has been 10 years and yet, nobody seems to remember.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Quinnipiac 2010 graduate and one of the founding members of The Quad News, Matt Andrew said.
In 2008, the returning editor in chief, editors and applicants for editorial board positions handed an empty manilla envelope to their advisor, announcing their resignation from The Chronicle, the official student-run newspaper at Quinnipiac University.
“In the end, at the end of 2008, we all resigned,” Andrew said. “We handed them an empty manilla envelope and said ‘We’ll see you later.’”
The Quad News was an off-campus, student-run independent publication created in 2008 by frustrated members of the university paper. Following a decision made by the university to take control of the on-campus paper, The Chronicle, by selecting editors going forward and constraining the publication of content, the staff realized they had had enough. Tired and disappointed by the university policy they believed was censoring their content, they disbanded to create their own publication.
This crisis began in 2006 when the paper published on its website and front page an article regarding an incident with two Quinnipiac basketball players. After the story appeared, the university imposed a new policy that prohibited the paper from posting material online until the print edition had been published. Things proceeded normally, until a year later, just before the start of the fall semester, an incident on campus got the attention of student journalists.
“Somebody on our staff had heard about somebody writing on a freshman’s dorm who was African American, all of these racial slurs on her door,” Jason Braff, the Editor in Chief of The Chronicle at the time, said. “We investigated, we found out more information, we ended up speaking with the student who had the racial slurs written on her door, we contacted the Hamden Police Department, we were reaching out to everybody putting this story together. We felt like it was a very important story and the students should know about it and people outside of the campus should be aware of it too.”
The story was newsworthy, but The Chronicle could not publish it online.
So, Braff, in his first semester at the helm of the paper, had to make a decision: Should the piece be published although it would break university policy, or should the editors shelve it until the publication of the first issue? The editors thought a way to get the story out, without breaking the policy, would be to publish a single sheet with the article and distribute it on campus. But before they could do that, they heard from then-President John Lahey who persuaded them to wait by offering them an exclusive interview.
In order to avoid any conflicts with the administration, The Chronicle editors chose to save the story for the first issue, which was scheduled for Sept. 12.
“In the 24 hours news cycle, even back then, there wasn’t really Twitter or Instagram or anything – we wanted to publish it online,” Andrew said. “And the school wanted to basically read the article and kind of have oversight over it, before it was published online, kind of limiting first amendment rights. They kind of wanted control over the information that was being disseminated rather than letting the students act as journalists and kind of provide that information.”
Quinnipiac University is a private institution. Unlike public universities, students give up certain rights when agreeing to attend the private school of their choice. Student journalists deal with the specifics of these rights daily in their reporting.
Private institutions face many challenges compared to public universities when it comes to accessing sources within the administration.
Current chair of the journalism department Margarita Diaz was the faculty advisor to The Chronicle at the time these policies were put in place by the administration.
“They understood that they [student journalists] were not doing public relations and their job was to cover what was going on on campus, and that sometimes that would reflect negatively on the university. And the university had a lot of trouble with that,” Diaz said. “They would not call it this, but it was about prior review. It was about being able to look at what the paper had and prepare a response if necessary before the outside media got wind of it.”
In a December 2007 statement, the faculty of the Quinnipiac University School of Communications voiced their opinions to the administration regarding student media policies and the changes the university administration was trying to enact.
“Basic First Amendment values are a focus in all of what we teach,” the statement said. “Therefore, the faculty of the School of Communications considers any attempts to restrict the access of student journalists to administrative sources and attempts to control the manner in which student media may disseminate information as threats to the basic principle of free expression and contrary to the mission of the School.”
In response,Vice President for Public Affairs Lynn Bushnell emailed the school a reiteration of the policy manual and what was expected of both faculty and student journalists in four bullets:
Scanned email courtesy of Margarita Diaz
No media outlet is to be contacted or responded without prior consent to John Morgan or Lynn Bushnell. This includes WQAQ, Q-30 and The Chronicle.
Student media can no longer be viewed as internal owing to the ability of external media to access these stories immediately. What appears in the student Chronicle likely will be picked up by the New Haven Register and other media outlets. The media considers ALL administrators to be representatives of the University, speaking on behalf of the university.
While this policy also applies to faculty, it is understood that faculty have the ability to speak to media without specifically representing the University. However, faculty should exercise caution in presenting their views on University-related matters by clearly stating that they do not represent the university.
Members of the division of athletics (coaches, administrators) should work through the office of athletic communications in regard to media contact. That office is responsible for contacting me directly in any special or sensitive circumstances prior to responding to media queries.
The email ended with Bushnell noting that the policy is ‘routine,’ but must be re-stated due to recent examples where the rules had not been followed.
In the spring semester of 2008, the university administration created a media task force to review student media policies. After it completed its work, the task force recommended a change of policy: Chronicle editors would now be selected by the university deans.
The result: a staff-less newspaper and a group of journalists determined to create uncensored news by becoming self-sustaining and independent.
“I remember sitting in the School of Communications and all of us were there, I think Margarita Diaz was there, and we were just like ‘This is the start of something new,’” Andrew said. “We were literally just throwing out names, a business plan and coming up with everything. It was a really cool moment for us to all come together, and we all had each others’ backs.
“We were kinda like family, we were friends. Nobody wanted to let each other down and we all just kind of came together in solidarity and decided this is what’s best. In the end, that was what was best.”
And thus, The Quad News was born.
Essentially establishing their own business, the founding members of The Quad News created their own bank account, outsourced for their own website, recruited people for positions such as a business manager and web designer and, themselves, went door-to-door gathering advertisements from local businesses. The students became completely self-made. Through their efforts selling merchandise and fundraising they were able to successfully create and run the independent paper.
“We had a whole web staff, we had a business group, we met every single week as a group and then throughout the week as editors meeting with writers and publishing stories,” Andrew said. “Instead of a weekly publish, we were publishing three times a week like Monday, Wednesday Friday or something like that. We were all in on it.”
The Quad News staff faced many obstacles in their five-year existence at Quinnipiac. Members were unable to formally recruit writers in and out of the classroom per university restriction and could not table as an outside business.
“We were doing outreach again to classrooms and Mark Thompson [Executive Vice President and Provost] said we couldn’t do that and sent us an email,” Andrew said. “The three of us, we went to his office and had this whole meeting like ‘Listen, we are students, we want to reach out to the students. We’re just trying to garner our attention for the Quad News,’ and he was just like, ‘No, you can’t do that.’ So I asked him, ‘Where in the handbook does it say we can’t do this?’ and he couldn’t give an answer.
“They hated that we were going to classrooms and, from their perspective, wasting other students’ time. We literally tried to pay the school, as paying students, with money that we raised through advertisements with the Quad News, we tried to pay for a table in the Student Center as an outside vendor and they wouldn’t grant us that as the Quad News.”
One of The Quad News’ first meetings. Jason Braff stands in red (right). Photo courtesy of Margarita Diaz
As if recruiting wasn’t difficult enough, Quad News staff editors and members, such as Jennifer Swift, were not allowed to meet or reserve rooms on campus.
“Being a student at a university where I’m paying to go to school but still feeling like an outsider, has to get outside press access to events and you can’t recruit on-campus,” Swift said. “We couldn’t reserve a room on campus for a meeting and it was like – for what? You’re a journalism school, how are you not going to let us do this?”
While many members of the paper expressed this same anger about being treated as if they were not students of the university, Bushnell defends that the university has the right to deny a non-affiliated organization the use of school property.
“I think administration generally has a right and responsibility, if it’s not a sanctioned club or organization, that we do have the right to limit their use of the property, of the facilities and I think that holds true today,” Bushnell said. “It’s always a gray area when it’s a non-sanctioned organization, but it’s comprised of students.”
Throughout it all, and to this day, members of the journalism department, of which only Richard Hanley, Margarita Diaz and Karin Schwanbeck still remain as current faculty, stayed firm in their decision.
“This idea that the students were somehow doing irresponsible journalism that was somehow going to place the university in a position of legal vulnerability is entirely false,” Diaz said. “And I have no problem saying that, but this is the line, and I think they still think it is.”
Looking back, Bushnell notes that, at the time, the administration did not fully understand the influence the Internet was going to have on journalism. If a similar situation occurred today, she isn’t sure the university would respond the same way.
“We were probably shortsighted in understanding what online publishing was going to mean in reality,” Bushnell said. “The best hindsight is 20/20. If we had to do it over again, would we take those same steps? I think probably not. That’s easy to say now 11 years down the road where everything is on our phone and we expect instant information.”
Although The Chronicle, as well as any student media outlet on campus, are now allowed to publish material online at any time on any day of the week, the concept of going through the Office of Public Affairs office is nothing new to the university.
“I have always, pretty much, been the point of contact for probably since then [2008], if not before then,” Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan said. “I have always been the person that all media has to contact and that includes all external media too. That means if they want to come on campus they need to work with our office.”
Quinnipiac’s Student Media Information Manual states that in order for students to speak with or interview university administration/staff, students are required to contact Morgan prior to contacting the employee. This is also mandatory for athletes, coaches or administrators.
Screenshot from Student Media Information Manual.
This concept of being granted ‘permission’ to speak with an administrator rather than directly going to that person for a response brings in the debate of true journalism versus public relations.
“Any organization does not allow you to just come in and talk to their employees,” Morgan said. “Organizations have a spokesperson and obviously I can’t be expected to know every higher education topic from top to bottom, that’s why we have departments and we work with them, you call us, I put you in touch with that person, you’re getting an authentic answer. I’m not sitting with them going over bullet points as to how we want to position it unless it’s something critical, but the run of the mill stuff they just rely on their own expertise to share that information.”
While it may be ‘required’ to contact Morgan before speaking with an administrator now, this was not always the case.
“Before the racial incident, student journalists could contact any administrator directly,” Diaz said. “The policy was changed by administration to be able to monitor the student journalists. The issue is simply that they realized students were doing real journalism and they had to be ready to respond.”
College Recruiter defines Public Relations as working to improve and monitor a client’s branding. Journalism, on the other hand, is defined as being ‘beholden to the truth,’ not to the image and opinions of clients. The line between the two has been one students have been fearful to cross at Quinnipiac.
Although Morgan does assist students by directing students to the right person to contact, he has also prevented them from contacting or interviewing an administrator if he does not deem it necessary or appropriate. In the nature of public relations, he is protecting the university, but when it comes to journalism, he is blocking students from what could be a crucial side of the story.
“We find that student media, as part of the learning process, is inclined to make a lot of mistakes,” Bushnell said in a recent interview. “Things blow up in people’s faces because of hearsay or rumors. That’s why some people will only respond in writing and some people won’t even respond at all.
“I think that it’s important to recognize that as journalists in training, you have responsibilities too. Just because you’ve heard something repeated over and over and over again doesn’t make it true.”
Contacting the public relations department is a known requirement before speaking with certain university members, yet there are cases in which a student either purposefully or by accident have broken this unspoken rule. In these cases, it is understood that ‘consequences’ are to follow.
“I’ve never actually said the word consequences,” said Associate Director of Campus Life David McGraw, who advises all of the student organizations on campus, including student media. “I do not know of any black and white punishment that you would get. It’s probably the biggest question of what the actual consequences would be that, at least for me, no one has told me, ‘If they do this, this is what will happen.’”
As the rumored ‘consequences’ loomed over students 10 years ago, the same threat, if you will, still stands now. For McGraw, such punishment would depend on the importance of the topic being covered and the extent that it was taken to.
“Being a private institution, I will say the university, in theory, does hold that power still that I could get a phone call that says, ‘We will not fund The Chronicle anymore,'” McGraw said. “This day and age with first amendment and all that kind of stuff, I do think the university would definitely take a different stance on it. We also have a new president who I think would probably approach the issues that happened 10 years ago differently than our previous president did.”
With similar guidelines still intact 10 years later, the question arises of: Were the efforts of The Quad News all for naught?
Andrew, the former Quad News managing editor and later editor in chief, recognizes that the emotions that fueled the founding editors may not be present among the current student body.
Ten years later, the editors of The Quad News have moved on from their days at QU. Where are they now?
“In the end it’s hard to duplicate that passion in other people if they didn’t experience it like you did. It’s hard to get students to want to be involved in general,” he said. “To get them to support something that’s not sanctioned by the university is even harder.”
A topic not taught or discussed in classrooms or among student media, the memory of The Quad News and their fight for the journalistic integrity of Quinnipiac has become just that: a memory.
“They did something different and it was just swept under the rug, like it’s off the grid, nobody knows about it,” said Logan Reardon, a current journalism student previously involved in The Chronicle. “I feel like we should know more about that.”
In a survey of 22 Quinnipiac communications students, 14 responded that they had never heard of The Quad News. Eighteen responded they believed there to still be censorship going on at Quinnipiac.
Some of the original members of The Quad News. Featured sitting in front Brendan Rimetz (left) and Matt Andrew (right). Photo courtesy of Margarita Diaz.
A decade later, Andrew hopes that, despite the fact that The Quad News failed to outlast those who restrained them, hindered their progress and denied their rights, that the mindset of what it means to take action rather than shy away lives on in the paper’s wake.
“I was always fired up,” Andrew said. “I was so passionate about the Quad News that I would do anything to make it survive and make it successful, within reason. But it was something I truly believed in and I would go a great lengths to make sure that it was going to be successful.
“Nobody else was doing the Quad News. We were like ‘This is something we’re going to do, we’re not going to back down, we’re not just going to get pushed around. We’re going to do something great and that we truly believe in and we’re not going to give up on it.’”
Quinnipiac clinches yet another MAAC championship.
As the buzzer sounds, head coach Tricia Fabbri eagerly storms the court with her team, making sure she hugs each and every person she can find.
Her family – who, from the 25th row in a mostly empty arena, berated the referees endlessly throughout the game – comes down and gets their chance at a hug. A long embrace between the family, tears inching down some faces, and then it’s back to business.
The next day, she’s in her office preparing for the NCAA Tournament.
Fabbri and her five seniors celebrate the 2019 MAAC title. (Photo by Morgan Tencza)
Fairfield University to Quinnipiac University.
It’s a short, 30-minute drive north on I-95.
For the last 32 years, Tricia Fabbri’s life has been defined by those two schools. And for the last 25, the 30-minute drive has been a staple of her daily life.
It all began in 1987, when a 5-foot-11 forward from Delran Township, New Jersey was a freshman on the Fairfield women’s basketball team. Tricia Fabbri – then Tricia Sacca – was a bruiser on the court, tallying 1,622 career points and 1,037 rebounds – both ranking her among the program’s top five.
That fall, though, Tricia found something that she didn’t go to Connecticut expecting to find.
Paul Fabbri graduated from Fairfield in 1987 – just a few months before Tricia arrived – and stayed at the university as a part-timer in the sports information department. He worked with the women’s basketball team during Tricia’s freshman year.
After three All-MAAC First-Team selections, Tricia stayed with the Stags as an assistant coach until 1995, when she saw an opening at Quinnipiac College – a Division II school in nearby Hamden.
“I thought, ‘Hey, I’m ready to become a head coach at 26,’” Tricia said. “I knew a couple people at the University of New Haven who made some calls to (then-Quinnipiac AD) Burt Kahn. I’m still convinced (I was hired because) Burt had two golden labs, and when I went into his office for the interview they were very happy to see me, I was unfazed and we had a good conversation.”
That was a monumental year for the young couple. Tricia and Paul got married in 1995, and both started new jobs that summer – new jobs that each of them still hold 24 years later.
Tricia went to Quinnipiac, while Paul started teaching and coaching baseball at Ridgefield High School, as the couple resided – and still does – in Stratford, a town neighboring Fairfield.
Quinnipiac wasn’t an ideal landing spot for Tricia. It was a lowly Division II program coming off back-to-back 4-22 seasons and it hired a new athletic director – Jack McDonald – soon after Tricia was hired.
“If you have aspirations to be a head coach, you have to start somewhere,” Paul said. “Quinnipiac was in the area and it offered a great opportunity for her just to start and have her own program.
“I think you have to take a risk, but never did I think it would become what it’s become.”
Tricia inherited the program and won 15 games in her first three seasons. Despite the on-court struggles, McDonald and then-Quinnipiac president John Lahey were determined to elevate the university to Division I.
“It was a difficult time,” McDonald said. “She had no full-time assistant coach. She had an office next to the elevator, as big as a closet. The proper support was not there for her. The first three or four years were a real struggle.
“To top it all off, we then dropped on to her, ‘Oh, coach, now you guys are Division I.’ We were playing a Division I schedule with Division III resources.”
Quinnipiac didn’t finish above .500 until Fabbri’s sixth year, but that year was almost her last.
On Dec. 4, 2000, Fabbri nearly left Quinnipiac.
The Quinnipiac Braves (2-2) hosted the Seton Hall Pirates (2-3) at Burt Kahn Court. The Pirates played in the highly-competitive Big East with teams like UConn and Notre Dame, among others. The Braves led by double digits at halftime, but the Pirates stormed back and won in overtime, 63-58.
“The crowd was disappointed – some people chirped some bad things at Trish,” McDonald said. “I go up to my office and I’m shutting down my computer and all of a sudden she walks in. She looks at me – and if the tears weren’t coming down her eyes, they were pretty close.
“She said ‘Jack, I can’t handle this. You deserve better than me. I want to resign.’ And I said ‘Trish, I’m going to pretend you never said that. Get the heck out of my office, go home, have a glass of wine, kiss your husband and hug your kids and we’ll talk on Monday.’ Frankly, that’s sort of the benchmark moment for the program.”
Fabbri (left) was emotional after the 2018 MAAC Championship Game.
Photo by Logan Reardon
Quinnipiac has had just three losing seasons since that day.
Now, the only tears Fabbri cries are after winning MAAC championships.
“That was the best thing for us, we took a great turn after that,” Fabbri said. “Jack saw the big picture and I just couldn’t see it. He saw the program moving, even if it was a step-by-step path. He believed in what I was doing.”
Off the court, the Fabbri’s were young parents. Their daughter Carly was born in April 1996, and sons A.J. and Paul Henry followed shortly after.
“I remember coming to her basketball camps when I was 3 years old,” Carly said. “I always had a ball in my hand. Growing up I was the water girl for the team and my mom would take me on any away trips I could go on. I loved being on the road and the bus with the team.”
While it was cool to have her mom coaching a Division I team, it did have some disadvantages.
Carly Fabbri cuts down the net after winning the 2018 MAAC title.
Photo from Logan Reardon
“(Tricia) missed Carly’s games when she was playing in high school, same thing with Paul Henry and A.J.,” Paul said. “She missed their games because of her responsibilities and it was extremely frustrating for her.”
Sports are everything in that family. Both of Tricia’s older brothers played Division I college football and each of the three children played in high school. They describe the family as a “team dynamic,” as sports dominate their lifestyle.
For Carly, knowing her mom had to miss some of her games was no big deal. She understood. It was the summer’s that hurt the most.
“I think it really hit home the hardest over the summer when she would go on almost two weeks of being on the road at a time and wasn’t home,” Carly said. “That’s when I would miss her the most. When I was off from school and if I wasn’t able to go recruiting with her, she was just gone for a long time and that’s when I got the most sad.”
As the kids grew older, Tricia’s program began to excel.
Now the Bobcats of Quinnipiac University, Fabbri’s squad won at least 10 conference games for six straight years from 2001 through 2006.
Fabbri credited Kim Misiaszek (‘01) and Colleen Klopp (‘01) – two Connecticut recruits from Old Lyme and Southington, respectively – for getting the team so competitive early in the Northeast Conference (NEC).
Still, people didn’t know what Quinnipiac was.
The name is funky and it’s in the middle of nowhere. So, how was Fabbri able to sell her budding program to recruits?
“As much as recruits will say they choose the school for the school, the coach is a very, very big reason why,” Mandy Pennewell (‘09) said. “It’s somebody that you’re going to love, and love to hate sometimes. You have to be able to handle that relationship at a young age where you are getting critiqued and certain things are expected of you.
“It felt like she was the mother of our herd, and you don’t cross that. You knew you had an environment where you were going to be protected, you were going to thrive and she was going to challenge you and hold you accountable.”
Quinnipiac was – and likely always will be – the “other” women’s college basketball program in Connecticut.
“When I was getting recruited, no one knew what Quinnipiac was,” Pennewell said with a laugh. “Honestly, after I committed, I just started saying I was going to school in Connecticut and everybody would think UConn. If you don’t know women’s college basketball you wouldn’t know.”
Quinnipiac lost to UConn in the 2018 NCAA Tournament Second Round, 71-46. (Photo by Morgan Tencza)
Now in 2007 with a growing program, Quinnipiac athletics changed forever – and people started to know the name. The People’s United Center (then the TD Bank Sports Center) opened on Jan. 27, 2007, moving the men’s and women’s basketball and ice hockey programs to the new $52 million arena.
“The building separated us from other mid-major universities,” Fabbri said. “This is just the brilliance of John Lahey. He wanted to continue to nationally build an academic reputation for the university, and he used athletics as the front porch. He saw athletics as a way to bring the university to national prominence.
“But it also brought a big responsibility, because if you build this, you better have success.”
MacGillivray celebrates his fifth and final conference championship as a Quinnipiac assistant coach in 2018.
Photo by Logan Reardon
Quinnipiac played its first full season on York Hill in 2007-08 (25-6, 16-2 NEC), and that coincided with the first postseason berth in program history. The Bobcats hosted future conference foe Iona at the TD Bank Sports Center in the first round of the WNIT on March 18, 2008, but lost, 71-59.
Still, it was another step for the program. Expectations were high as Quinnipiac brought in Mountain MacGillivray as a full-time assistant in 2009.
“When I got there, I said ‘If we don’t have the best roster in the league, we aren’t doing our job, because we’ve got a great school and a great coach and a great campus and a great arena,’” MacGillivray said. “What happened next was kind of inevitable. You just have to work hard and not make mistakes – and Trish rarely made any mistakes when it came to evaluating players and getting the right fits.”
Pennewell, along with Erin Kerner and Brianna Rooney, were some of the “right fits” that MacGillivray described. The trio graduated in 2009 and each made their mark on the program as part of that first postseason team in 2008.
After those three graduated, the program – and the university – took a detour from the progress they were making.
In April 2009, Quinnipiac women’s volleyball coach Robin Lamott Sparks and her players filed a lawsuit against the university. And as Pennewell, Kerner and Rooney left the school, Fabbri was forced to rebuild on the fly while her administration went through the lawsuit.
“(The Title IX case) really was a low point, but Trish did stay focused during it,” McDonald said. “A sign of a good coach is what you can do in adversity more than what you can do in success. She continued to be someone for all the younger women’s coaches to lean on. She was a rock.”
Sparks was a newer coach at Quinnipiac, so she didn’t really establish a relationship with Fabbri before the case.
“I was only there for about a year or two before the Title IX suit,” Sparks said. “And then after that, no one in athletics wanted to talk to me.”
Fabbri spoke on behalf of the basketball program during the case, but the suit didn’t affect her program in any way. In fact, they tried to avoid it all together.
“To a degree, there was separation by distance (because they were on York Hill and the rest of the sports were on main campus),” Fabbri said. “With that separation, I didn’t really know what was going on to be honest with you. No one was really talking about it because it was confidential. We were physically removed from it so I didn’t really get the ins and outs.
“I played a part in the trial, but I just had to answer everything that came and happened with the women’s basketball program. I was resourced and supported very well. It was just basketball, basketball, basketball questions from me so I just answered them.”
Framed QU Chronicle cover in Fabbri’s office after the Bobcats clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth.
Photo by Logan Reardon
While the program was not directly affected by the trial, the team did suffer back-to-back losing seasons in 2009-10 and 2010-11. It’s up for debate whether that was more related to the loss of their three star players or the trial. Coaches and players will say the right thing, but no one will ever truly know.
The case was settled in April 2013, and Quinnipiac agreed to keep all of its current women’s teams, add scholarships and improve facilities for its female athletes, according to a statement issued by the university.
In 2013-14, Fabbri was faced with another challenge. One year after her first NCAA Tournament bid, Quinnipiac jumped from the NEC to the MAAC.
“There was definitely a step up in competition (to the MAAC),” Adily Martucci ‘17 said. “I think there’s always going to be challenges when you are faced with teams you haven’t seen before. We were getting comfortable in the NEC.”
Martucci saw it all during her years. From her freshman year, the last in the NEC and the first in the NCAA Tournament, to her senior year and a Sweet 16 berth, Martucci likes to say she “joined the team at the perfect time.”
Martucci, along with Morgan Manz (‘17) and Carly Fabbri (‘18) (remember the 3-year-old at basketball camp?), helped bring the program to new heights.
Now, the Bobcats have been to three straight NCAA Tournaments and five of the last seven. It’s a dynasty by every definition of the word – there’s no way around it.
So with everything she’s achieved, what keeps Fabbri at Quinnipiac?
“I’ve had the opportunity to go and talk to the perceived bigger and power conferences. That’s been extremely interesting to go and do. But, just like recruiting, when you yourself are going and getting recruited, you find that the grass is never greener.”
Fabbri was a finalist for the Penn State job after last season, according to Blake DuDonis on High Post Hoops. Despite the reports, Fabbri insists she’s not interested in moving on.
“I’m really happy where my feet are and I still can make an impact within this program,” Fabbri said. “We can still achieve what I personally want to achieve. I really believe that second weekend (of the NCAA Tournament) is sitting there and I always like a challenge. It’s extremely difficult, but it’s also doable.”
If that’s the goal, then so be it. Fabbri holds the key to her future.
If she wants to use that key to make the drive north up I-95 for another 25 years, Quinnipiac will be better off.
But she’s earned the right to make that decision – whether she stays for life, or leaves tomorrow.
Beneath the flurry of caps and gowns, tassels and sashes brims an undeniable anxiety that is alive within every Quinnipiac student approaching graduation day. With three weeks left till that prospective date, such fear is rising to the surface and threatening to boil over.
Considering the theme for this week’s presidential inauguration is “Your Future,” Quinnipiac’s next batch of graduates can’t help but think about theirs.
“I am scared,” QU alum and Ted Talk speaker, Lauren Cantu said in the opening of her recent speech. Taking place Tuesday, April 30, Cantu’s talk was the first of four speeches in a lineup dedicated to the dilemmas that lay ahead. Her’s specifically dealt with the the well-being of physicians as well as the potential for burnout in her future career.
“I am scared for my future,” Cantu said. She’s not alone.
Like Cantu, another QU alum Anthony Allen voiced concerns in his own Ted Talk about communities and sustainability.
“We’re facing some big challenges and systemic failure today,” Allen said. “We urgently need a new approach and a new perspective.”
As of Wednesday, May 1, Quinnipiac heard from someone offering just that.
The People’s United Center before guests’ arrival
During the inaugural celebration of Quinnipiac’s first female President Judy Olian, she spoke to these concerns. She also presented an array of solutions and addressed possible ways to secure a future that is bright for all who seek it.
She started with what Quinnipiac can do as an institution of higher learning, for both its students and the larger community they will soon become apart of. When Olian was named as the university’s ninth president just over a year ago, she was tasked with creating a strategic plan for the university’s future.
“Here we are– this relatively small school with this giant ambition,” Olian said in Wednesday’s speech. “I believe we have the potential to define a piece of the landscape of higher education.”
Just how does she plan to make Quinnipiac an institution of excellence? The truth is, it’s a work in progress. It’s work that is never fully done, but constantly underway.
“In the spirit of constant beginnings, the strategic plan in process over the last eight months has resulted in an exciting vision for Quinnipiac that builds the bridges to our shared future,” Olian said.
This vision is one that hinges on several factors: distinctive academic programming, nurturing internal and external communities and inclusive excellence.
“We will aspire to become a community that’s built on trust, openness and stability,” Olian said. “One that can have honest conversations about difficult subjects and that cares for and elevates marginalized members of society.”
Olian mentioned the importance of celebrating the differences within the community and welcoming members of underrepresented groups. This includes first-generation students, LGBTQ members, veterans and individuals from various socioeconomic backgrounds.
Along the same lines of diversity and inclusivity, students and faculty alike were thrilled enough at the prospect of having Olian as the university’s very first female president.
“It’s a landmark celebration– this is really exciting for Quinnipiac,” professor of women studies Melissa Kaplan said. “I think having inclusive excellence and celebrating diversity is the hallmark of any higher educational institution and I’m excited to be apart of her vision for the future.”
QU alum and masters student Brian Koonz was also in attendance. At the age of 53, Koonz is working on his graduate degree while also working as an adjunct in the school of communications. Like Kaplan, he appreciates and stands in support of Olian’s vision.
“It’s a powerful and pivotal moment in the university’s history,” Koonz said. “It’s a time of transformative change, not just for higher education as a whole, but really for Quinnipiac.”
Beza Indashaw, senior health science studies and pre-med student agreed wholeheartedly.
”I think we’re heading towards the right direction,” Indashaw said. “Trying to make this a more inclusive community is big for us, and her ideals are something I think Quinnipiac needs right now.”
Such ideals include an emphasis on lifelong learning, openness and the ability to embrace and effect change when necessary.
“I like higher institutions who are able to pivot with relative ease to the opportunities of the future,” Olian said. “That combination of comprehensiveness with focus, warmth and embracive change, are the contours of Quinnipiac distinctiveness and they drew me to this unique institution.”
In addition to the great potential Olian sees in the university, she also recognizes that complex problems and effective solutions are best approached by teams with a variety of perspectives. She admitted in her speech that there is still a ways to go.
“We are not yet where we need to be as an inclusive institution– not in faculty or staff, not in students or alumni, not in programming. We aspire to be more,” Olian said. “The university of the future cannot be a replica of what it was yesterday, or even what it is today.”
None of the changes Olian proposed will be achieved by looking back. As someone taking the reins from former president of 31 years John Lahey, Olian shows no signs of doing so.
Many, including Koonz, are excited to see her at work.
“We look forward to seeing what the future of Quinnipiac University has for us under her guidance.”
The one year anniversary of the massive tornado that struck Hamden is rapidly approaching, but a re-open date for Sleeping Giant State Park remains as ambiguous as ever.
Clean-up efforts at Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden are in full swing with the goal of getting the state park, closed to the public for nearly a year, open and ready for the summer season. Much of the progress made in the last eleven months is thanks to volunteers of the Sleeping Giant Park Association (SGPA). Just days after the devastating EF1 tornado, SPGA volunteers were on scene and working to make Sleeping Giant safe for the public. The project was a massive undertaking, with the to-do list including projects like clearing nearly 2000 toppled trees from the park’s 32 hiking trails. Thankfully, volunteers like Dr. Luis Arata were up to the challenge.
“Each downed tree was a fascinating, dangerous puzzle,” Arata said. “I remember staring at tangled blow-downs and trying to visualize the actions of the trees before I would start cutting. We had to try to predict how a tree would react and move when cut, and how to stay out of harm’s way.”
An Argentinian native, Arata came to the United States in 1968 to pursue higher education. Settling in Hamden nearly three decades ago, Arata now serves as chairperson of the department of modern languages at Quinnipiac University.
For years, whenever he needed an escape from the pressures of professional life, Arata looked no farther than across Mount Carmel Avenue to Sleeping Giant State Park. An avid runner, he’s spent countless hours exploring the park and getting well-acquainted with every twist and turn of its trails. Just months before the storm struck Arata completed the “Sleeping Giant Master Marathon,” an all-day feat that involves covering all marked trails back-to-back – a distance of nearly 28 miles. His accomplishment inspired Arata to deepen his relationship with the park. He made the decision to run for director-at-large on SPGA’s board of directors, and May 6, 2018, Arata was elected.
Days later, the tornado touched down in Hamden, causing millions of dollars in damage, leaving thousands without power and mangling Sleeping Giant. For Arata, the storm hit far too close to home in every sense, as his family’s home sits near the base of the mountain.
“Our house took a direct hit but was miraculously left standing between masses of downed trees,” Arata said. “We were surrounded by a jungle of foliage, massive rootballs, craters, tangled limbs up to the roof. My father’s day gift was a second chainsaw.”
Immediately after clearing the debris from his own property, Arata shifted his attention to the Giant, joining the SPGA volunteer trail crews in July of 2018. Every Sunday from 9 a.m. until noon, Arata worked alongside about two dozen other volunteers to carefully clear the masses of fallen limbs that cluttered the trails. When Arata joined the team, about two miles of trails had been addressed – leaving about 30 more miles.
“It looked like an absurdly impossible task,” Arata said. “Ray DeGennaro, the SGPA board member directing trail maintenance, had organized teams of four or five volunteers and assigned them to certain trials. We met at the park entrance, we got tools together, hiked up to assigned locations, and got to work cutting the way through.”
As summer turned to fall, the number of volunteers grew and each day the massive clean-up seemed less and less daunting. By September, there were as many as 85 volunteers out on the trails. By the end of January, nearly all of the park’s blazed trails were reopened. With the exception of just two trails, practically all trail clearing that had been done up to this point was the work of volunteers.
In the early months of 2019, bitterly cold temperatures and frequent winter storms hampered the clean-up efforts. Occasionally, severe wind storms and ice storms were so destructive that volunteers had to go back and redo some of the trails. It’s setbacks like these that are largely to blame for the elusive re-open date. However, since April SGPA volunteers have been firing on all cylinders, and the prognosis is good. Although there is still some work to be done, Arata is optimistic that the community will be able to enjoy the Sleeping Giant in the near future.
“Since Sleeping Giant is a state park, [Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection] makes the call, but the trails are nearly clear once more and they’re being blazed again. We can only hope the park reopens soon.”
The air is particularly charged within the dim black box theater on 515 Sherman Ave. It is 6:30 p.m. sharp on Wednesday, February 27 with exactly one hour till show time. Stage crew hands run in and out of the space, adding last minute details to the set, which so far includes a series of wooden beams that raise the main stage up high above the soon-to-arrive audience members. A soft blue light filters in from the lighting sets that decorate the entire theater ceiling. Actors dressed in variations of button-ups, dress pants and suits stand clustered in a loose circle of optimum zen and focus, carrying out a series of scales, trimming, humming and other warm-up vocalizations.
The new black-box theater on opening night of ‘Next to Normal’
This is the scene that takes place before Quinnipiac University’s theater department debuts its highly-awaited musical “Next to Normal.”
QU junior Amanda Bushman, who will star in this spring’s student-run production of “Seven Minutes in Heaven,” was in attendance on opening night and she said the audience seemed to wholeheartedly enjoy the show.
“I definitely saw a lot of people crying at the end, including myself,” Bushman said.
It turns out there was a lot of crying that week as all five nights of the show were sold out.“Next to Normal” is the eighth student-run production in the recently converted Theater Arts Center.
What was merely a vacant building 18 months ago is now a fully-furnished space for the dramatic arts. The theater program produces three shows a year within this space and the student theater company produces and additional two of their own on top of that. Including “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Little Shop of Horrors,” the music program also holds its concert series here each semester. Many productions now take place in the new Theater Arts Center, the likes of which also see the rehearsal for the new play festival which the student theater company eventually takes to New York.
But back in 2016, when the stages of planning had only just begun, none of this was yet possible at QU.
“We had this building and we had this opportunity. Instead of just doing a one-space black box theater, we could create a whole department,” Sal Filardi of facilities and capital planning said.
Over the following months, the theater program such plans come to fruition. Complete with new lighting and design sets, dressing rooms and a larger, more impressive black box theater, Quinnipiac’s drama department has a new performance space, and it’s one that students and staff say blows the previous tiny black box theater located in the College of Arts and Science out of the water.
“It’s more than just a classroom we painted black,” Filardi said, referring to the CAS black-box theater. “There’s a practice theater, faculty offices, student spaces, a gallery and lobby space, scene shops, costume shops, dressing rooms– it’s a complete facility.”
Location of Theater Arts Center on Sherman Ave
While Quinnipiac University has owned the building on 515 Sherman Ave. since purchasing the property in 1974, it was not until the summer of 2017 that it was developed into a space for the arts. Before then, the school used it to fulfill a variety of different needs. Its most recent purposes included classroom space and furniture storage as well as Hamden fire and police training.
After a year of planning, the theater department officially moved in during August 2017.Students involved in theater say that they could not be more pleased with the new building. Paige Parton, president of the student run theater company, Fourth Wall, experienced the transition first-hand.
“Coming from Buckman and the old CAS black box theater to the theatre arts center was a huge shift and it took a little adjusting – especially with having more classrooms, a design studio and a fully equipped shop, which we had never had before,” Parton said. “We also have a professional looking lobby. It’s a nice touch.”
With such nice touches costing a total of $ 5.5 million, facilities saw entire project as a real investment in the arts. An investment that’s paid off. Now,a little over a year and a half following the move, QU’s theater program and department has seen an upward trajectory in terms of growth and overall enthusiasm.
Quinnipiac has always largely been viewed as a sports school. However, since the conversion of the building, QU has seen a peaked interest in its underdog of departments – the theater arts. The incoming class in fall 2016 had a total of four theater majors; the following year it had three. In fall 2018, the first year of the new theater arts center, the theater department acquired 12 new majors.
Kevin Daly, QU theater program director and assistant professor of theater, said he could not deny the correlation between the timing of getting the building and the sudden surge in numbers.
“I certainly wouldn’t call it a coincidence,” Daly said. “I do think that it has to do with not only the building but also the spirit of a commitment to theater.”
At the same time that the department obtained the new building, it added two more faculty staff members. It has also since developed new programming. There is now an accelerated 3+1 theater degree program with the School of Business where students can receive both a theater degree and a Master of Business Administration.
“I think all of those things converged along with what I think was a really strong commitment from the College of Arts and Sciences and from the university that this was important,” Daly said.
With all the added weight a new building carries in terms of dedication to the arts, the space has proven to be more than a space for performance and rehearsal. For many drama students, it’s a place for both solo and group study sessions as well as a place to come for peace and quiet. Every theater major can use his or her Q-card to access the building during study hours.
“I’ll come here and study,” QU senior Connor Whiteley said. “If I have two classes with a few hours in between, instead of hanging out at the library, I’ll come here.”
Whitely, who starred in “Next to Normal,” is a double major in theater and economics. Prior to this most recent musical, he was in two productions in the fall semester as well as a musical last spring and even directed the student run play last semester. As someone writing a full-length play for his senior project and directing his own production for the Spring festival, Whiteley is highly involved in the QU theater space, and as such, has been thrilled to see it thrive.
“We have more of a presence now. A lot people assume there aren’t really any arts at Quinnipiac but I think having our own building kind of sets us apart.”
He is not alone in this way of thinking. Parton, who is directing “Seven Minutes in Heaven” as well as her own play in the spring festival, saw the building as a sign of further legitimacy. “Since we got the new space our Quinnipiac community has started to take us more seriously, attends the productions and sees that we have a talented and hard working program,” Parton said.
‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’ Set
‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’ set
‘Seven Minutes in Heaven’ set
And while there is no denying the obvious benefits of the building as well as the push to establish a larger theater and arts presence, there is also the question of who will notice.
As far as putting QU on the map for theater, realists like Kevin Daly do not believe we should be kidding ourselves by comparing Quinnipiac to schools with more concentrated theater programs.
“I don’t think we should ever strive to be that. What we offer is not a conservatory experience,” Daly said.
According to Daly, QU’s program is one committed to a Bachelor of Arts in theater or a theater studies degree where a student spends about one third of their education in theater. Almost half of the university’s theater majors are double majors who have the ability to explore other disciplines.
“If a student commits to a conservatory style program, almost 75%, maybe more of their education is not only in theater but in a very specific discipline in theater like acting or directing or lighting design,” Daly said. “That’s great if the student knows at 17 or 18 years old that that’s the career they want.”
Most, however, don’t. The reality is that the theater industry business is tough to delve into. “The only way to survive is to be ultra-talented, somewhat lucky and very capable of the tougher elements of the business,” said Daly. “Not everybody can do that, and so what we want to make sure of is that if a student gets to that point and decides ‘you know what, this might not be for me,’ they can pivot into something that still feels very rewarding.”
According to Daly, while QU has launched a couple students into high-quality graduate programs, it’s theater program is not a “pipeline to broadway.” Instead, its focus is more on providing a theater or arts experience that prepares students for the more conservatory style programs, if they so choose it.
“That’s how we put ourselves on the map – by becoming a program where students can come in and safely explore theater and get really quality training,” Daly said. “I’m very proud of the program we’ve developed. I think that they can get a very good understanding of all the areas of theater: acting, directing, playwriting, stagecraft.”
Moving into the new space has allowed students to push the boundaries of what they could accomplish with their productions. Parton says the new space has broadened the horizons for herself as well as her fellow classmates.
“I found my own spirits lifted in the sense of expanding my need to learn about different aspects of the theatre,” Parton said. “I thought I wanted to stay within the realm of acting, but then that shifted when I learned of all the other aspects. Other students started to explore different areas too.”
As to what QU’s theater program will look like further down the line, Daly hopes to see a total of 40 theater majors within the next five years.
“Hopefully we can show that the theater program really grew as a result of coming out here,” said Daly. “We have at least, in the small view, seem to have gotten on the right trajectory.”
This trajectory extends to the community outside the university’s walls. Executive Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute and QU Professor of Political Science Sean Duffy has witnessed and been involved with multiple performances in the Theater Arts Center. Duffy’s partner Andy Morgan is part professor and part performance artist whose acts involve magic and illusion. In addition to places like Lyric Hall and Lotus Studio in New Haven, the Sherman Avenue space was home to two of Morgan’s magic performances.
Duffy was also amazed by the new and improved black box theater when it was his partner’s rehearsal site. “I love that space. It was really flexible and really easy to use,” he said. “It’s nice the way the audience is right there because there’s no barrier between the audience and the stage.”
Currently, Duffy’s partner has a theater piece in New Haven called “The Women Who Saw All,” a show which incorporates illusion and mentalism. Morgan performed it for the first time in the Theater Arts Center, where he had Daly critique it.
“When he did it here at Quinnipiac, it was largely as a way of helping him work out that show. It was the first time he was able to do it in a larger space,” Duffy said. “He had an audience that he could try these things out on – see what worked, what didn’t work.”
So far, there have been only positive things to say since the center’s establishment. More than providing a common area for theater students and industry artists alike, more than creating a stronger sense of engagement and dedication to the theater arts program, the building on Sherman Avenue is a place that has fostered a connection between QU and those involved in the larger arts community. It is an amalgamation of all these things that shows the true value of having such a space.
While 18 months may not be sufficient time to measure its success, it can be seen in every proud smile of an audience member. After the last note rang through and brought the “Next to Normal” musical to a close, Bushman said an emotional Judy Olian may even have “shed a tear.”
It is also seen in the gleam of the eyes of every student who walks through the black box doors feeling inspired and ready to learn. “It’s been really fun for all of us,” Bushman said. “Even when we’re kind of tired, it’s pretty easy to still be excited.”
Judy Olian is putting her strategic plan into action by making room for a new senior cabinet.
Olian announced in a recent email to faculty and staff that three vice presidents will leave Quinnipiac University at the beginning of the 2019-20 academic year.
Greg Eichhorn, who oversees admissions and financial aid, is gone at the end of June.
Joining him in an administrative exodus — but via retirements after years of service — are Lynn Bushnell, vice president for public affairs, and Don Weinbach, who has been at the helm of the development and alumni affairs office since 1996. Executive Vice President and Provost Mark Thompson announced earlier this semester that he has taken the job of president at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. His last day at Quinnipiac, after a 21-year tenure, is May 31.
Greg Eichhorn
Lynn Bushnell
Don Weinbach
Mark Thompson
Unlike the retirements and Thompson’s departure for a higher position, Eichhorn is leaving under different circumstances — he no longer fits into Olian’s plans.
The strategic plan is designed to develop Quinnipiac into a university of the future. That future did not have room for Eichhorn.
“There is a strategic shift in this position and I accept that,” Eichhorn said. “The conversations I have had with the president and provost are about the future and the strategic plan for it.”
Eichhorn, who was accompanied during the interview by John Morgan, associate vice president for public affairs, denied he was being forced out, saying his departure was a mutual decision.
“After discussions with the president and the provost, we’ve agreed that the position is going in a different direction and this is the best thing for the institution,” Eichhorn said. “And that’s what I care about.”
Eichhorn’s tenure was short. He came to the university only three years ago after serving a 24-year tenure at Albright University in Pennsylvania.
“Candidly, I was in a great place at Albright and loved it,” Eichhorn said. “Quinnipiac recruited me for a while and it finally got to the point where we said as a family, this is a great opportunity and I’ve got to take it, and I did.”
As the vice president for admissions and financial aid, Eichhorn has been in charge of overseeing graduate and undergraduate admissions and all aspects of financial aid.
An e-mail from Olian sent to faculty, staff and students on Jan. 29 regarding the strategic plan.
The strategic plan, which Thompson first introduced to the Faculty Senate in late January, has four main points to be carried out over the next few years.
The purpose of this plan is to build an institution-wide mindset to prepare graduates for citizenship and 21st-century careers; create an inclusive, excellence-driven community; nurture and positively impact internal, local and global communities; and foster lifelong connections and success, according to the first draft of the Quinnipiac Strategic Plan.
Called “A blueprint for the future,” the plan took shape after faculty and staff worked in task forces to create original drafts. Olian then collated these drafts and is weighing feedback from town hall-style meetings.
The fourth of the four prongs addressed in the plan is “to foster lifelong success and communities,” which directly involves the office Eichhorn oversees.
“This position will move a little more from a recruiting (and the) financial aid program to what’s called enrollment management,” Eichhorn said. “So, it will be involved with those aspects as well as some retention aspects with the position, that’s the biggest change — and be more involved with the provost.”
With Eichhorn leaving and the position reshaped, the search for his successor is underway.
Eichhorn said he thinks that the right person can lead the university to greater things.
“A talented person that is supported can help raise the institution to the next level,” Eichhorn said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the person that will come into this seat after me.”
As for Eichhorn, he will seek employment in higher education, but, he hopes, with more responsibilities.
“I want to do something similar to what I am doing now,” Eichhorn said. “Maybe for a smaller institution where I have more than just admissions and financial aid. That’s what I had at Albright — I had athletics, I had camps and conferences, so I am looking potentially for more things under the umbrella.”
Eichhorn says what’s next for him will always be a family decision.
“We are fortunate I have some options,” Eichhorn said. “We are literally weighing those and doing some travel to those locations to see what is right for my wife, my son and I.”
According to a letter to the editor published in the New Haven Register, the strategic plan has the full support of the Quinnipiac board of trustees said chairman William Weldon on behalf of the the board.
The final draft of the strategic plan will be released to faculty on May 3.
After 31 years, the holder of Quinnipiac University’s executive office changed with the arrival of Judy Olian as the ninth president last July. During the week of April 30, she will be inaugurated with a university-wide celebration.
The events include an inauguration ceremony at the People’s United Center on May 1, faculty talks and “A Taste of the Arts,” among others.
“It is deeply humbling to be entrusted with the leadership of a university as dynamic and well-regarded as Quinnipiac,” President Olian said on a Quinnipiac Now post. “As we build the University of Your Future, we take the first symbolic steps as a Quinnipiac family along with our guests at the People’s United Center on May 1. I am grateful that the inauguration committee has programmed events throughout the celebration days to bring our community together to learn, to serve and to celebrate.”
A list of events that are included in the Inauguration Ceremony. (Courtesy: Quinnipiac University)
One gathering of particular interest during the week is a TedX event, the second of its kind for the community with the first one held in 2014. A TedX event includes speakers who present powerful ideas and speeches. The theme of the event is “Your Future.”
Quinnipiac senior and TedX host Joel Vanner also spoke of this idea and how it relates to the president’s strategic plan.
“What we’re really looking for this year is people to really come out and talk about the topic of your future,” he said. “I know it’s something that President Olian really touched upon in her strategic plan is that this is positioning Quinnipiac to to be the university of your future.”
“I think President Olian is really committed to listening to the students, finding out what we need and want, and working her hardest to see it become a reality,” SGA President Austin Calvo said. “I didn’t have the best start to my relationship with President Olian, but she has proven herself time and time again as the leader Quinnipiac needs.”
Calvo believes that the events will be an accurate representation of the future.
“I think they’re going to be really cool,” Calvo said. “We rarely get to see a presidential inauguration, and the events planned seem like they’re really going to represent the future of Quinnipiac, with President Olian at the helm.”
The community can find additional information about the scheduled celebration on the university’s official inauguration web page.
President Judy Olian in a recent video explaining what to look forward to in the coming months and years at Quinnipiac. Screenshot via Quinnipiac University.
Students have complained about Quinnipiac’s tuition and where their money goes throughout most of their years at the university. However, on April 16, President Judy Olian posted a video to her personal Instagram and Twitter detailing new changes to residence halls and student center facilities.
“(In) Mid-May, we’ll begin updating our residence halls on Mount Carmel starting with Perlroth, Larson and Troupe and we will be adding air conditioning,” Olian said in the video. “We plan to upgrade the remaining halls in the next few years.”
Justin Ellis, a 20-year-old English major from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, thinks this is some of the best news he has heard since coming to Quinnipiac two years ago.
“The lack of air conditioning in buildings has been one of the larger complaints of the student body and to see President Olian make strides to change that I’m sure is just a part of what she has in store for us in the coming years,” Ellis said.
Other changes include refurbishing the Rocky Top Student Center with new furniture, a pool table, television and a full functioning bar with food services. The Student Government Association has worked on the Rocky Top pub initiative for about a year with senior class president Allison Kuhn and senior representative Joe Iasso drafting the proposal that received Olian’s thumbs up.
“I’m thrilled that university administration took such quick action to add something students wanted on campus,” Iasso said. “I am so excited to come back as an alumnus and visit the campus pub, I think it will be a great place for us to draw connections to each other and our alma mater.”
Although these future plans have most of the student body excited for the future of Quinnipiac, Matthew Forcino, a 20-year-old finance major from Cranston, Rhode Island, noted one important detail in Olian’s announcement.
“President Olian did add in the caveat that these plans are subject to trustee approval, indicating that they are not set in stone,” Forcino said. “I hope that this is just a cautious statement rather than an indication that these plans might not come to fruition.”
With the timeline for the improvements set to begin at the end of the semester and into the summer, students are hoping to see their large tuition bill going toward significant changes at Quinnipiac.
“The residence hall updates are not so much a necessity as it is an expectation of a school where tuition is over $65,000,” Forcino said. “I’m glad to see that administration has listened to what the student body wants.”
