Fight Clubs & Farewells

When one thinks of Holy Cross athletics, boxing is not the first sport that comes to mind. But as the reader will discover in our cover story, the College has produced its share of pugilists. Interest in the “sweet science” has bubbled up every now and then over the years, with new generations of students periodically trying to launch their own fight clubs on campus and in gyms around the area.

Beginning as an intramural activity soon after the College’s founding, boxing on campus may have reached its peak of popularity in 1969, when Mark Doherty ’70 traveled with a pack of Crusaders up to Lowell, Mass., and shocked a rabid crowd of spectators, by coming from behind in a brutal bout to win the New England Golden Gloves tournament. The latest student boxer to step into the ring was Derek Warner ’02, an economics major out of Enfield, Conn., who entertained thoughts of an Olympic attempt during his final year on the Hill.

I also want to draw your attention to the news story on Page 5. After eight years of shepherding Holy Cross Magazine through 38 issues and several dynamic evolutions, our executive editor, Katharine Buckley McNamara ’81, has moved on. As you’ll read in our news story, Kathy has accepted an exciting new position as vice president of the Close Up Foundation in Alexandria, Va. I don’t have room in this venue to catalog all of Kathy’s accomplishments during her time on Mount St. James, but I can tell you that she created a first-rate public relations and communications office from the ground up.

The College’s Public Affairs Office is really the place where all the good news—and the occasional bad news—about Holy Cross gets processed and distributed. In short, we are the voice that has the responsibility for, and the privilege of, telling the College’s story. Trust me when I tell you that for the last eight years, no one took that responsibility more seriously than Kathy McNamara. And no one took more pride in that privilege.

I know I speak for the entire campus community and, especially, the Public Affairs staff, when I say “Thank you, Kathy—for your support, your interest, your encouragement, your example and, most of all, for your friendship. We wish you the best of luck in your new venture.”