"Not Columbus" Day – SJU...

In Canada, we have our own shameful (albeit different from the US) history with Indigenous people that we are still trying to work through. I can argue/understand either side on these types of decisions. But if SJU is going to turn away from Columbus Day, stand up and say so. Don't hide behind the "Mini-Fall Break" line.
You are so polite, shameful does not even begin to describe the horrible, past and current living conditions of Canadas indigenous people.
Anyway we are to avoid political discussions on this site and I apologise for veering off topic.
Wishing everyone a nice day as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. 🇨🇦
 
Monte, god bless you, I’m an Irish American alum and proud member of the Knights of Columbus although not of Italian heritage I’m beyond embrassed about my Alma mater . Us Non-Woke alumni need to step up, in fact our Italian-American head coach needs to step up. The University is crapping on Italian Americans The question I ask is WHY ?
What is a non -woke alumni by your definition..My children made me realize I am woke. I learn from them every day in this ever changing world.
 
You are so polite, shameful does not even begin to describe the horrible, past and current living conditions of Canadas indigenous people.
Anyway we are to avoid political discussions on this site and I apologise for veering off topic.
Wishing everyone a nice day as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. 🇨🇦
I've been to Canada often, it being nearby. Nicer people I've never met, and I've been fortunate to visit a lot of Europe. My son moved up there after the '16 election and was greeted like one of their own. I'll always remember that.
 
You are so polite, shameful does not even begin to describe the horrible, past and current living conditions of Canadas indigenous people.
Anyway we are to avoid political discussions on this site and I apologise for veering off topic.
Wishing everyone a nice day as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. 🇨🇦
Happy Thanksgiving Day to you and the family RMN
 
A friend of mine spotted a St. John’s float at the Columbus Day parade today. So we’re at what, two insane overreactions in two days on this board?

Looking forward to the season finally starting

Happy indigenous day to all who celebrate
View attachment 3328
This is a very sensitive subject matter and one which evokes strong emotions and opinions, especially amongst Italian-Americans of my generation and the older generation. Of which there are many posters on this board. In spite of what you may perceive, the comments on this thread are hardly an overreaction.
 
The problem I have with the action by the university is that the decision is not so much based on values or morality as it is going along with a culture that cancels long held accomplishments of individuals based on contemporary values.

So we have founding fathers that are no longer revered despite their role in building our nation because of what we find universally reprehensible today but was such a contested issue that our nation engaged in civil war.

I'm actually okay with those determinations if they are done as a result of examination of the facts concluding based on deeply held moral convictions that those individuals no longer deserve our respect and honor.

However I do have a problem with those leaders who go with the flow because something is politically expedient. That doing something according to your convictions will bring disdain or heat upon you if you stand up in righteousness and hold firm.

Columbus, who it was just revealed, may not even been Italian by DNA. Curiously that exhuming of his bones 400 years later and declaring he was a Sephardic Jew quite possibly not born in Genoa Italy kind of fits in current plans that separate Columbus as a source of Italian American pride in our country. So now in addition to Columbus possibly not been the first explorer to discover the Americas, not having set foot in North America, and engaging in warfare with Indigenous tribes he encountered, guess what folks? He was a Jew, you know, those people who are somehow the violent aggressors despite being the victims of the most violent terrorist attack one year ago.

Universities owe it to their charters, to be great halls of public debate. To examine facts as we know them and use develop critical thinking skills in students by testing theorems as to whether what we hold to be true are actually valid.

Instead, in recent years even doctrines that are at the bedrock of our nation, such as "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal" are challenged or distorted. I'm 100% okay with challenge. Social science as with physical science must continually subject itself to testing and re-testing as new evidence might reveal that the sun doesn't revolve around the earth.

In recent years we fired an adjunct professor not for suggesting their was an inherent good in slavery, as he was accused of by a group proclaiming themselves radicals, but terminatec because it was easier to fire an adjunct without standing in the university than to stand with him and defend him while possibly bringing the wrath of those who were burning cities.

When a Catholic University does these things, whether terminating faculty wrongly our canceling a long held holiday celebrating the discoverer of America, not because of alleged wrongs but simply because it is expedient to do so, we become less than who we say we are. Pontius Pilate questioned "what is truth?" before yielding to the mob. A university owes it to itself to at the very least do the same before yielding to the mob.

St. Patrick may have been Italian and not Irish. There were also no snakes to be driven out of Ireland, which is part of St. Patrick's myth. I wish we could say the same.

BASED Beast... love it.
 
The tone of the University over the last many years has and is disheartening. I will discontinue my financial support and send my donations to another school that more reflects what I feel is important.
Specifically? This is interesting as I posted this summer as having sent a donation for the first time in quite a while to show my appreciation of the Fr. Shanley hire.
 
You are so polite, shameful does not even begin to describe the horrible, past and current living conditions of Canadas indigenous people.
Anyway we are to avoid political discussions on this site and I apologise for veering off topic.
Wishing everyone a nice day as we celebrate Thanksgiving Day here in Canada. 🇨🇦
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
 
I did not renew my season tickets this year—not because I didn’t want to, but work / travel schedule means I’ll miss all the MSG games and most of the CA games. I’ve been feeling bummed out about it, but this woke garbage makes me feel slightly less bummed. Although hard to blame it on a team coached by a guy named Pitino.
 
I was curious about this, and it turns out SJU terminated Columbus Day back in 2018. From The Torch:

When St. John’s University released the calendar for the 2018-19 academic year, a slight change in the holiday schedule was easy to miss. For the first time in recent memory, the University will be open on Columbus Day and closed on Veteran’s Day.

Not only will the school be business as usual, it also will be a historic day. The new Academic Center for Equity and Inclusion (ACEI) will open on Columbus Day, chief diversity officer Nada Llewellyn announced before hundreds at the State of the University Address this month.

Although some may assume that this was St. John’s way of choosing to no longer recognize Columbus Day as a holiday, University spokesperson Brian Browne said this is not the case. For example, he said the University will still participate in the Columbus Day Parade in Manhattan.

Most universities in the metropolitan area are closed on Columbus Day. But several schools, cities and even states across the country no longer celebrate the holiday, citing evidence that questions Christopher Columbus’ place in history.

Last year, various student organizations — including Social Justice Exchange, Feministe Unite, Students of Consciousness and the Latin American Student Organization — called for the University to instead recognize Indigenous People’s Day.

This year, the sentiment continues, especially among student organizations that represent the Latin and Indigenous communities.

In a statement to the Torch, the Latino fraternity, Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity, Inc., said that, “The University should use the day to observe and pay respects to the growing movement for replacing Columbus Day with a day that celebrates the Indigenous people of the Americas.”

Columbus is most aligned with Italian heritage in America. But Annamaria Basile, the president of the Italian Club, feels a holiday in his name is wrong.

“I disagree wholeheartedly with the Italian-American community about why we should celebrate it,” Basile said. “Just on the basis that Columbus didn’t do anything for the Italian community, he [was] just Italian, but he did this all in the name of Spain.”

Basile refers to the growing list of historical evidence that shows that Columbus and the men he brought with him when he accidentally discovered the Caribbean were violent and exploitative.

She also is not comfortable with the traditional Columbus Day parade in Manhattan, which the Italian Club and other members of the St. John’s community have participated in during previous years.

Basille said that this year, she wasn’t encouraging her members to go and miss classes.

“We do things with other orgs whose … communities [were] harmed by Columbus, so what kind of message does that send from us?” she said. “Like are we really an ally if we’re allowing ourselves to continue participating in this harmful figure?”

Annalisa Sacca, professor of Italian and the advisor for the Italian Club, said in a statement to the Torch that she is fine with the University remaining open on Columbus Day.

“I believe we should make this day ‘the Migrant’s day.’ This is a land of migrants,” she said, “We all came from some other part of the world and we all have been given the same opportunities to succeed.”

Sacca, who is from Italy, said that although “it would have been easy” to complain about the school not honoring Columbus Day, she cited the controversial history surrounding the figure as the reason that she doesn’t see an issue with this new change.

“If we look at what the British and French did to the American Indians, I see no difference with what happened to the Indigenous people of Hispaniola,” she said. “The world has always had its wars and violence, and what is history if not a long list of conquests and defeats. We cannot judge if he was better or worse than others, but certainly power is a very tempting lady and Columbus was a human being like everyone else.”

A University spokesperson steered clear from weighing in on the debate. He said the decision to keep the school open was strictly a calendar issue.

“With a limited number of days on the Academic Calendar that may be taken as holidays, the University will observe Veterans Day on Monday, November 12 this year,” Browne said.

He encouraged people to visit the academic calendar on the University’s website, which was set by the Calendar Committee comprised of administrators, faculty, and students.

A 2019 holiday schedule posted on the university’s human resources website says the school’s administrative offices will also remain open on Columbus Day next year, as well.


 
A friend of mine spotted a St. John’s float at the Columbus Day parade today. So we’re at what, two insane overreactions in two days on this board?

Looking forward to the season finally starting

Happy indigenous day to all who celebrate
View attachment 3328
But there is no one on the float.
 
Back
Top