Fr Biondi or Dr Pestello

[73Billiken]

To all of those that were on the dump Biondi train. this is proof that you should be careful what you wish for. 

Fr Biondi was not liked because he made hard decisions (not all decisions will please everyone); Dr Pestello is not liked because he can not make hard decisions.

It is hard to imagine that there was not a qualified Jesuit available in North America to run the oldest Jesuit university in the US & we got this guy?

Saint Louis University deserves better.

 

#FireFred

[White Pelican]

I'm not that interested in looking  it up but at the time of the change of command, it was stated in the press that when Biondi was appointed there were way more Jesuits in existence than there are now. So it is much harder to find a Jesuit with the requisite skills to run a major university and more likely that it will be laymen going forward.

[Bobby Metzinger]

56 minutes ago, 73Billiken said:

To all of those that were on the dump Biondi train. this is proof that you should be careful what you wish for. 

Fr Biondi was not liked because he made hard decisions (not all decisions will please everyone); Dr Pestello is not liked because he can not make hard decisions.

It is hard to imagine that there was not a qualified Jesuit available in North America to run the oldest Jesuit university in the US & we got this guy?

Saint Louis University deserves better.

 

#FireFred

Second oldest. Georgetown has us by 29 years. But oldest U west of the Mississippi you are correct. I concur with you on this - Gtown went secular in 2001 with Dr. DeGioia when Jesuit priest Leo O'Donovan refused to shut down a pro-choice group on campus at the behest of Pope John Paul II on the grounds of free speech.

But Georgetown has always moved that way - it's D.C. & it's not even close to center. You'd think that in the middle of the country you'd be able to hold on to some more centrist points of view even through the Jesuit's more progressive history as educators in the U.S.

[jzstldc]

1 hour ago, 73Billiken said:

To all of those that were on the dump Biondi train. this is proof that you should be careful what you wish for. 

Fr Biondi was not liked because he made hard decisions (not all decisions will please everyone); Dr Pestello is not liked because he can not make hard decisions.

It is hard to imagine that there was not a qualified Jesuit available in North America to run the oldest Jesuit university in the US & we got this guy?

Saint Louis University deserves better.

 

#FireFred

+100000000

[Adman]

6 hours ago, Bobby Metzinger said:

Second oldest. Georgetown has us by 29 years. But oldest U west of the Mississippi you are correct. I concur with you on this - Gtown went secular in 2001 with Dr. DeGioia when Jesuit priest Leo O'Donovan refused to shut down a pro-choice group on campus at the behest of Pope John Paul II on the grounds of free speech.

But Georgetown has always moved that way - it's D.C. & it's not even close to center. You'd think that in the middle of the country you'd be able to hold on to some more centrist points of view even through the Jesuit's more progressive history as educators in the U.S.

Bobby, it's the second oldest in the US period, regardless of river.

[cheeseman]

Always love it when after somebody leaves then that person all of a sudden becomes sainted in some people's minds.  How quickly we forget.  No need to go back through all the issues with Biondi and all the incessant complaining about him.  Bottom line is he was a dinosaur and his inability to adapt is what brought him down.  He was no great friend to athletics and he did as much damage as any man could do to the basketball program during his tenure.  He did good things but as I said above - adapting was not his strong suit.

[Bobby Metzinger]

12 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Always love it when after somebody leaves then that person all of a sudden becomes sainted in some people's minds.  How quickly we forget.  No need to go back through all the issues with Biondi and all the incessant complaining about him.  Bottom line is he was a dinosaur and his inability to adapt is what brought him down.  He was no great friend to athletics and he did as much damage as any man could do to the basketball program during his tenure.  He did good things but as I said above - adapting was not his strong suit.

All valid points, Cheese. I think the compare/contrast here is what he did to improve the relationship between the University and alumni and the greater St. Louis community at large, versus the Pestello administration. There are now rifts and chasms were harmony once lay.

You are right about LB SJ being a hardliner, a "my way or the highway" guy. University leadership probably requires a bit of sway at the top, a leader that predicts, forecasts and makes proactive changes, rather than being reactionary. In many ways, Biondi was too reactionary and often his reactions caused strife within the faculty and student bodies.

I'm not a Biondi Apologist, but given our current situation, many of us pine for his leadership simply because that's all we know at SLU. We weren't here for Fr. Fitz or Reinert's Era, so that's really the only benchmark we have.

 

[73Billiken]

I am not a Biondi apologist but as a 1973 grad I was there when the campus was, using a now popular term, a 'sh*thole'.  Compare that to the campus SLU has today.

Reinert was a visionary, Fitzgerald and O'Connell almost drove SLU into the ground.  Biondi had a vision of what SLU could be and was a man of action..  In the process, he could have been more collaborative and more inclusive with some of the decision making.

Compare that to what we have now.

 

  

[willie]

25 minutes ago, 73Billiken said:

I am not a Biondi apologist but as a 1973 grad I was there when the campus was, using a now popular term, a 'sh*thole'.  Compare that to the campus SLU has today.

Reinert was a visionary, Fitzgerald and O'Connell almost drove SLU into the ground.  Biondi had a vision of what SLU could be and was a man of action..  In the process, he could have been more collaborative and more inclusive with some of the decision making.

Compare that to what we have now.

 

  

Fitzgerald saved the university from going bankrupt. 

[Cowboy]

1 hour ago, cheeseman said:

Always love it when after somebody leaves then that person all of a sudden becomes sainted in some people's minds.  How quickly we forget.  No need to go back through all the issues with Biondi and all the incessant complaining about him.  Bottom line is he was a dinosaur and his inability to adapt is what brought him down.  He was no great friend to athletics and he did as much damage as any man could do to the basketball program during his tenure.  He did good things but as I said above - adapting was not his strong suit.

-or woman? 

[Sheltiedave]

Fitzgerald was a capable administrator, who worked hand in hand with Reinart to save the University, with endless fundraising. They had Frs. Ong, Foley, McNamee, and some great faculty who got SLU back on its feet.

Biondi was a hard charging dynamo who did great good once he settled in, but he also had a wide Machivellian streak, he held enemies, and he treated University employees and faculty in a pronounced unChristian manner.

He also presided during Situation I, and was a proponent in installing Weathers into her kingdom. While they were correct in laying the ground to expel Jon Smith and Justin Jordan, they were on shaky ground with suspending Kwamain, and they railroaded Willie.

Biondi ignored the SI fallout, did not clean house then in the T9 Department, and the worst attributes were only magnified and substantially reinforced. He truly earned the nickname Beyond Me in this regard.

[almaman]

6 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Fitzgerald was a capable administrator, who worked hand in hand with Reinart to save the University, with endless fundraising. They had Frs. Ong, Foley, McNamee, and some great faculty who got SLU back on its feet.

Biondi was a hard charging dynamo who did great good once he settled in, but he also had a wide Machivellian streak, he held enemies, and he treated University employees and faculty in a pronounced unChristian manner.

He also presided during Situation I, and was a proponent in installing Weathers into her kingdom. While they were correct in laying the ground to expel Jon Smith and Justin Jordan, they were on shaky ground with suspending Kwamain, and they railroaded Willie.

Biondi ignored the SI fallout, did not clean house then in the T9 Department, and the worst attributes were only magnified and substantially reinforced. He truly earned the nickname Beyond Me in this regard.

great summation

[Pistol]

26 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Fitzgerald was a capable administrator, who worked hand in hand with Reinart to save the University, with endless fundraising. They had Frs. Ong, Foley, McNamee, and some great faculty who got SLU back on its feet.

Biondi was a hard charging dynamo who did great good once he settled in, but he also had a wide Machivellian streak, he held enemies, and he treated University employees and faculty in a pronounced unChristian manner.

He also presided during Situation I, and was a proponent in installing Weathers into her kingdom. While they were correct in laying the ground to expel Jon Smith and Justin Jordan, they were on shaky ground with suspending Kwamain, and they railroaded Willie.

Biondi ignored the SI fallout, did not clean house then in the T9 Department, and the worst attributes were only magnified and substantially reinforced. He truly earned the nickname Beyond Me in this regard.

One quibble: Smith and Jordan were already gone by the time S1 came to light. They had announced their transfers in April, it occurred in early May, and then Mitchell and Reed were notified they needed to come to a hearing in September.

[Sheltiedave]

Pistol, maybe my memory is fuzzy, but were they not the second and third involved parties with the Cook female relative? And at that time, their absence at SLU rendered the rump court moot for them.

[kshoe]

8 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Pistol, maybe my memory is fuzzy, but were they not the second and third involved parties with the Cook female relative? And at that time, their absence at SLU rendered the rump court moot for them.

Smith and Jordan has already announced they were transferring prior to the S1 incident. Nobody could have "layed the groundwork to expel them" since they were long gone by the time the kangaroo court started up.

[brianstl]

39 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Fitzgerald was a capable administrator, who worked hand in hand with Reinart to save the University, with endless fundraising. They had Frs. Ong, Foley, McNamee, and some great faculty who got SLU back on its feet.

Biondi was a hard charging dynamo who did great good once he settled in, but he also had a wide Machivellian streak, he held enemies, and he treated University employees and faculty in a pronounced unChristian manner.

He also presided during Situation I, and was a proponent in installing Weathers into her kingdom. While they were correct in laying the ground to expel Jon Smith and Justin Jordan, they were on shaky ground with suspending Kwamain, and they railroaded Willie.

Biondi ignored the SI fallout, did not clean house then in the T9 Department, and the worst attributes were only magnified and substantially reinforced. He truly earned the nickname Beyond Me in this regard.

Their was no Title IX Department at SLU.  That was before the dear colleague letter in 2011 from the OCR. S1 was not a Title IX case.

I actually think part of the plan that Biondi wanted to implement and led to his downfall would have changed how SLU dealt with these matters. It would have changed the governance structure at SLU.  It would have took power away from the faculty and administrative bureaucracy in these type of cases and put it at the top of the food chain.

[Sheltiedave]

Brian, I know there was no T9 at that time, it was the infamous rump court. The problem we have now is they took that rump court, added another two layers of management, codified the process, and wrote procedures that severely curtailed any appeal power. They also ensured the entire hearing and appeal panel pool was completely stocked with like minded trainees.

this process is staffed and slotted at the appropriate level within the administration, it merely lacks the diversity, peers, and legal rigor one would reasonably expect at SLU.

[Pistol]

4 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Brian, I know there was no T9 at that time, it was the infamous rump court. The problem we have now is they took that rump court, added another two layers of management, codified the process, and wrote procedures that severely curtailed any appeal power. They also ensured the entire hearing and appeal panel pool was completely stocked with like minded trainees.

this process is staffed and slotted at the appropriate level within the administration, it merely lacks the diversity, peers, and legal rigor one would reasonably expect at SLU.

This would be my gripe with the Title IX office, as well, putting this situation completely aside. Representation and diversity are important. A hive mind can be dangerous, even one that starts with good intentions.

[Quality Is Job 1]

6 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Brian, I know there was no T9 at that time, it was the infamous rump court. The problem we have now is they took that rump court, added another two layers of management, codified the process, and wrote procedures that severely curtailed any appeal power. They also ensured the entire hearing and appeal panel pool was completely stocked with like minded trainees.

this process is staffed and slotted at the appropriate level within the administration, it merely lacks the diversity, peers, and legal rigor one would reasonably expect at SLU.

Excellent post.  Man, you are on fire, even after being absent for so long!

[Quality Is Job 1]

Just now, Pistol said:

This would be my gripe with the Title IX office, as well, putting this situation completely aside. Representation and diversity are important. A hive mind can be dangerous, even one that starts with good intentions.

We're just hoping that resistance isn't futile.

[Cowboy]

5 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Brian, I know there was no T9 at that time, it was the infamous rump court. The problem we have now is they took that rump court, added another two layers of management, codified the process, and wrote procedures that severely curtailed any appeal power. They also ensured the entire hearing and appeal panel pool was completely stocked with like minded trainees.

this process is staffed and slotted at the appropriate level within the administration, it merely lacks the diversity, peers, and legal rigor one would reasonably expect at SLU.

-Dave, it is the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, that's the name, therefore it is, pay no attention to the fact there are no men listed as being part of the Office

[almaman]

15 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

Excellent post.  Man, you are on fire, even after being absent for so long!

Indeed. The board lacks diversity I nominate Uncle Tony for the board. He'd balance out the church ladies that dominate it now.

[BourbanStreet]

It's interesting. My freshman year was the Biondi/interim year with Pestello taking over at the beginning of my soph year. I can tell you that immediately I, along with other students, took to Pestello. He was present walking around campus and really seemed to engage with the students as opposed to Biondi riding around in his golf cart with rumors of a tanning bed in his house. The clocktower protest in my mind put a fairly brand new president (a couple months) into a tough predicament. S2 is a bad situation, but I think more concerning, Pestello is putting SLU into a bad place financially. I remember there were some transparency concerns with the budget when I was there and it only takes a google search to see there were concerns over the budget during his tenure at Le Moyne. SLU decided to build two new, albeit beautiful, dorms. Now don't get me wrong, new dorms are important to attract freshmen students. I lived in Clemens and GFO and they weren't the best. But, SLU "surprisingly" found themselves in the red and had to turn to cutting a number of jobs and discontinuing the secondary ed department (a profession that embodies the Jesuit values and mission) along with other cuts. Probably the most worrying aspect about the new dorm situation to me is that these dorms are named Spring Hall and Grand Hall.  It sounds like they (Pestello) couldn't find donors to support the new build. Maybe the donors wanted to be anonymous, but I don't know if I believe that. Biondi had to come back because fundraising was abysmal. I was talking with an administrator at my current school (I go to med school at another Jesuit university) and he mentioned something about a new building when they find the donor support to match the school input. To me that makes sense, its banana land to do otherwise.

 

Side note: I also think the rebranding process was a gigantic waste of time, effort, and money. 

[Spoon-Balls]

I just really wonder who the other potential candidates were back during the search for a new president and what factors led to the selection of Fred Pestello... He clearly doesn't know how to run a larger scale University with D1 athletics and the need for strategic fundraising activities on a significant scale. I guess he took advantage of Le Moyne's budget when he had the chance and then bolted when more $$$ came along. 

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/lemoyne_buys_half-million_doll.html

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/lemoyne_1.html

 

Judging by the comments in both of those articles, Fred seemed to be as equally unpopular at Le Moyne by the time he bolted for the big pay raise... He loves to put on a show and act like he cares about social justice, take pictures at the basketball games and act like he's a fan, but at the end of the day, the guy is a total farce. You've gotta love his responses on twitter when he posted that he brought in the $56 million in fundraising this fiscal year....

[HoosierBilliken]

Biondi!