St.Joe's Today

ST.JOE’S NOW: I taught at St.Joe’s for about 5 years.Each semester I taught 250 students ThomisticPhilosophy,in 5 sections. I used multiple-choice tests, e.g.
“Matter is to Form as (a) God is to the angels…”

(Actually, because students had to ‘spit-back’ the textbooks, they had to read carefully. Thus they got a better education than many students at a State University, at infinitely lower costs.)
***
Fr.Weisser CPPS was ‘tough’ dean of discipline, who occasionally belted college students.

His aide was ‘Silver Bullets’, a moron who worked cheaply and was given a gun.
Whence the name? When students would climb the water-tower, he’d shoot at them,
but always miss-- a source of amusement, not fear.

Weisser bought a two-way radio in his crusade
to catch erring students in cars.
(He was deputy sheriff, violating canon law).
He gave S.B. a car with radio, then took off in his car, saying
“Calling Car # 1 ! Calling car #1 !” No response.

He came back exasperated:
“Why didn’t you respond?”
(A group of students had gathered around S.B’s car,
sure there’d be entertainment..)

‘Father!” protested S.B. ‘YOU’RE car #1—I’m car #2 !”
**
Mary Wright Lyons was with me at St.Joe’s.
One priest ran off on his motorcycle with a druggist’s wife.
There was a sudden opening in the English faculty.
They talked Mary (with her MA) into filling in.

Mind you, these were youths who volunteered
to attend one of the very few Catholic colleges
without a matching girls’ college.
They were the type who would join marines.
They weren’t happy to face a prof. who was six-months pregnant.
They tried not to look at her.
***
Mary was raised with responsibility for
14 younger siblings/cousins in the duplex.
She was not impressed by male bravado.

St.Joe students were sports-mad
(what other entertainment in Rensselaer?)
We attended a basketball game with Valpraiso College,
a civilized Lutheran school.
As the game ended, it looked like a riot was beginning.

Mary (6 months pregnant) jumped up to stop the riot.
Luckily there were many students there we didn’t know
who were related to Mary.

A football player rushed up, saying “I’m your cousin!”
and hurried her out of danger.