{"id":590,"date":"2019-02-14T16:48:02","date_gmt":"2019-02-14T16:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/02\/14\/2019214students-upset-as-university-owned-museum-faces-uncertain-future\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:36:46","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:36:46","slug":"2019214students-upset-as-university-owned-museum-faces-uncertain-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2019\/02\/14\/2019214students-upset-as-university-owned-museum-faces-uncertain-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Students upset as QU\u2019s Irish museum faces uncertain future"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Troetti<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Photo via Logan Reardon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Quinnipiac University students have expressed disappointment over the unsettled status of the university\u2019s overall connection to the Irish-American community and the university-owned Ireland\u2019s Great Hunger Museum. <\/p>\n

The uncertainty arose following an announcement that QU would not march in or continue to sponsor the annual St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m especially passionate about not distancing ourselves from the Irish experience, because I chose Quinnipiac to take advantage of the Irish connections,\u201d senior history major Alice Valley said. \u201cI decided on this place because it had connections. It seemed to be going someplace because I\u2019m interested in Irish studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the museum is not closing at this time, university president Judy Olian outlined a plan for the museum to become financially self-sufficient by June 2020 in an email sent Monday, Feb. 4.<\/p>\n

The museum, located at 3011 Whitney Ave. in Hamden, opened in 2012. It features the world\u2019s largest collection of art related to the Great Famine, according to the museum\u2019s website<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former Quinnipiac President John Lahey, who was instrumental in the museum\u2019s opening, described the university\u2019s decision not to march in or sponsor the parade \u201cperplexing\u201d in an article published by the New Haven Register.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Valley, who spent spring semester of her junior year studying abroad in Ireland, explained that, while she approves of many of the actions Olian has done during her time at the university, distancing Quinnipiac from the Irish community would be a disappointment for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIrish Studies (are) a big part of my identity as a QU student. I love the ideas that President Olian is implementing \u2013 I am not school spirited at all, but I am beginning to feel a sense of pride that I go to QU\u2026 it\u2019s not a shameful thing anymore,\u201d Valley said. \u201cThe changes that I\u2019m seeing now are great, but if the changes mean I\u2019m going to lose my connection to the Irish studies, I don\u2019t know if I can really pride myself in being a QU student anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior political science major Kelly Reynolds spent last spring studying in Cork, Ireland, and is also disappointed with the uncertain status of the museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely think it\u2019s a little disappointing because the school has a great relationship with UCC in Ireland and they really encouraged us to go visit the museum before our trip abroad, and a lot of us did,\u201d Reynolds said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt helped us because a lot of us were taking Irish history classes, so I got a good idea of the culture and history I was about to become a part of for four months of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reynolds said she, like Valley, feels a sense of personal connection to the museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gone with my family\u2026 my grandma is first-generation, her parents are from Ireland, and they left during all the troubles Ireland was having. So I know it means a lot to the people and the families who send their kids here, and it was beneficial for me and my friends before we went abroad to Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Photo via Caitlin Fish<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite the uncertain future of the museum, Reynolds feels that it does not necessarily correlate to the university as a whole distancing itself from Irish culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s an attack on Irish culture in any way,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI just think (Olian is) trying to see where Quinnipiac\u2019s resources would best be put, and I don\u2019t think she has as much of an appreciation for Irish culture as President Lahey definitely did, so I think (being) a different president, she\u2019s trying to make her own mark on Quinnipiac.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junior physical therapy major Rob DePeppo studied in Ireland last spring and feels the university should not cut all ties with the museum and its representation of Irish culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like separating themselves completely from each other is not the best idea. Maybe they should try \u00ad\u2013 even if they don\u2019t fully support (the museum) \u2013 do something to help support them. (The university) shouldn\u2019t cut them off completely,\u201d DePeppo said.<\/p>\n

As far as financial self-sufficiency for the museum goes, Valley feels as though the museum has a tough task ahead of them in raising the necessary funds.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuseums are generally not ever self-sufficient,\u201d Valley said. \u201cWhen you go down Whitney Avenue and look at the parking lot, there\u2019s not a lot of cars there. If (Olian) wants to get (the museum to be) self-sufficient, she has to put some money in at the beginning before tapering off at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reynolds also feels that the museum will need to have community backing in order to meet its financial goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they would have to get a lot more of the community support. Right now, I feel that it is definitely visited by mainly Quinnipiac students,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI think for the museum to become self-sufficient in a year would be hard, but they would need the community\u2019s support to get the revenue they need to stay open.\u201d<\/p>\n

DePeppo offered ideas for the museum to gain the support it needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe if they had some fliers or some kids going around Hamden, just to have the name around there, so (the museum\u2019s name) not just that building you pass on Whitney, that you\u2019re not really too sure what it is. Maybe have some fundraiser or something, just to get the name out there \u2013 get it known that they want to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valley feels that the key to driving revenue for the museum could come from attracting a younger target audience.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The museum) needs to be more interactive. They need younger people there. They should have some college-age (presence),\u201d Valley said. \u201cThere\u2019s no buy-in for younger people\u2026 It\u2019s not a young person\u2019s museum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, Valley fears what Quinnipiac could stand to lose if the museum is not able to stay open. She believes that history is a key component of keeping a culture alive, and that the museum does just that for the Irish culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic memory is only of the victors. We lose the quieter aspects that would never come to being (without museums),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Valley believes that, despite the museum having become an established part of Quinnipiac for years, its presence has just begun to scratch the surface in keeping Irish history alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re killing something that\u2019s just a bud,\u201d Valley said. \u201cIt\u2019s going somewhere\u2026 let it go somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite addressing the museum\u2019s uncertain future, Olian stated that the university remains a place that encourages students and citizens to be well-rounded and culturally aware \u2013 values that are present in the lessons the museum offers through its various exhibits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board and I have an unwavering commitment to educating our students and the general public to be enlightened citizens and champions of excellence,\u201d Olian said in the email. \u201cThe lessons embodied in the art of the museum \u2013 lessons about hunger, oppression, political repression and immigration \u2013 are a reflection of Quinnipiac\u2019s values.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the university-owned Ireland\u2019s Great Hunger Museum is set to close, Quinnipiac students spoke out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,142,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hamden","category-homepage","category-quinnipiac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2316,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions\/2316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}