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By Phyllis Hanlon
 William
Green
Noting that he is “just leaving his day job,” William
Green retired after 37 years in the history department at Holy
Cross at the conclusion of the spring 2001 semester. Since
1964, Green has served twice as department chair and has held
a position “on virtually every committee at the College.” Along
with innumerable standout memories, he departs with a sense
of satisfaction that he has been able to devote his “limited
talents” to an institution that he has found to be extremely
well-managed and well-administered.
According to Green, in 1964 the school resembled a small parochial institution
with a fairly narrow clientele. “Now Holy Cross is contending for leadership
among all schools in the country,” he says. “We have made changes
of a far greater nature than any of the 20 other colleges to which we compare
ourselves.” Although other schools have implemented changes during the
last four decades, he notes that those initiated at Holy Cross are “colossal” and
reflect a “qualitative difference.”
Green credits Rev. Raymond J. Swords, S.J., and Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., with
the successful implementation of many of these changes. “Father Brooks
represents the cornerstone, the nucleus of Holy Cross. He was behind the extraordinary
evolution at the College,” he says. “Without him, there would still
have been changes, but not so dramatic.”
One of the most “transforming moments” in the history of the school,
in Green’s opinion, was the shift to coeducation. “For Holy Cross
this was a giant leap forward,” he says. “The admission of women
added to the intellectual fiber of the school and brought positive social effects.”
As he makes the transition into retirement, Green will focus on a massive history
book project. “As an undergraduate professor, it’s hard to spend
the time to write,” he says. Exploring the subject of the “great
losers and lost causes in Western European history,” Green will travel
to France to gather research material for the book. Recently he spent three weeks
in Italy amassing data for the project, which he admits is much larger than he
first imagined. Additionally, he will travel “just for the sake of traveling.”
Kenneth Happe ’58
After having spent close to 50 years at Holy Cross—first as a transfer
student from a Jesuit seminary and then as a faculty member—Kenneth Happe
is departing for exotic ports and domestic enterprises. He leaves behind his
indelible handprint on the institution, which, according to Happe, has undergone
significant changes.
Noting that the world in general has seen revolutions in every area imaginable,
Happe indicates that Holy Cross has experienced its own transformations, not
all of them positive in nature. He cites the diminishing number of Jesuit faculty
and administrators with dismay. “That is the major crisis at Holy Cross
as it must have been at Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale when their church staff dwindled
away,” he says. “Some students get through Holy Cross with a handful
of contacts with Jesuits.” Currently, 12 Jesuits teach full time at the
school out of a faculty of more than 220.
Happe also expressses concern for the challenges that faculty face as they focus
on publishing and establishing themselves in an attempt to obtain tenure. By
concentrating on writing in their fields, professors have less time to devote
to the process of “touching a student’s mind, heart or soul,” according
to Happe.
Looking back at the ’60s and ’70s, Happe recalls many special moments
with school alumni. “‘Killer charades’ until dawn with a carload
of alumni from Manhattan” spring to mind, he says. During his career at
Holy Cross, he formed many strong connections with students who shared the same
interests. “I remember some fun theatrical productions I did with the students
over the past 40 or so years, mostly in obscure spaces on campus,” he says. “Most
of my best friends are alumni.”
Happe’s retirement will be anything but restful. “Three hours after
graduation, I flew to London, then to Istanbul for a two-week archeological tour
of Turkey,” he says. He’ll then spend 10 days finishing his “compulsive
tour of the Aegean islands.” So far he has visited 15 and plans to see
20 more, including Lesbos, Chios and Patmos. Before returning to the United States,
he stopped in Athens to visit with alumni.
On the home front, Happe will supervise major renovations to his Holden, Mass.,
home. “Things I’ve needed to do for the past 10 years,” he
says. An active member of the Shakespeare Club and the Dickens Fellowship, both
of Worcester, he’ll continue to attend meetings regularly. In between all
these activities, he plans to spend some time reading. “I’ll try
to plow through the hundreds of books I’ve bought over the past decade
from a wonderfully tempting remaindered bookseller in Connecticut,” he
says. As long as his health holds up, Happe intends to enjoy some respite and
find ways to continue his passion for “creating inquiring minds.”
Frank Kaseta
A person can accumulate a lot of memories in 36 years at one job. So says Frank
Kaseta, associate professor of physics, as he retires after a three-decade
tenure at Holy Cross. Since 1964, he has seen the development of a coed curriculum,
a tremendous amount of building on campus and increased faculty participation
in governance and administration.
Kaseta raves about Swords Hall, a major construction project that enabled the
science departments to enlarge significantly. Focusing on the benefits to the
physics department, he cites the addition of space for laboratory equipment and
a large research library.
The growth of Holy Cross brings with it some mixed blessings, though, according
to Kaseta. With an increase in faculty and students, the environment has changed
somewhat from his early days at the College. “The atmosphere was more informal
and friendly then,” he says. “The faculty all knew one another. We’d
sit and eat lunch together.” Now the school has become more “institutionalized,” he
says. But Kaseta notes that these changes are not entirely negative. “One
advantage to being more formal is that everyone knows procedures better now,” he
says. “Sometimes informality can lead to inequities.”
Although he’ll visit his colleagues on campus periodically, Kaseta does
not intend to spend time in the lab pursuing further research in his field. “Commuting
is not practical right now,” he says. He is glad to leave behind the long,
and sometimes harried, drive from his Norwood, Mass., home. Instead, he’ll
spend significant time enjoying his new granddaughter. In between sessions with
the stroller, he plans to read and catch up on some “homestead” activity.
“There are lots of things that I have let slide,” he says. A ham
radio operator and member of a couple of related organizations, Kaseta will also
devote more time to his favorite hobby.
Thomas Lawler
As director of graduate studies for four years, Professor Thomas Lawler experienced
firsthand the impact that women had on the framework of Holy Cross. When
he began teaching in the English department in the fall of 1966, Lawler points
out the scarcity of women faculty. “I recall that there was a part-time
woman teacher in the English department and another in psychology,” he
says. In time, that situation changed, as did the makeup of the student body. “When
women students came, it made a big difference socially,” he says. “They
also strengthened Holy Cross academically.”
As a member of the premed committee the last two years, Lawler has reviewed applications
for just as many women as men. “Ten or 15 years back, there would have
been far more males,” he says. Additionally, women have bolstered the College’s
honors and athletics programs, according to Lawler.
Another important change was the establishment of guidelines for hiring and granting
tenure through the Committee on Tenure and Promotion (CTP). “It took a
tremendous amount of faculty work to negotiate, structure and set up procedures,” Lawler
says. By working together, the administration, trustees and faculty laid the
foundation for the current system of teacher input during the hiring and tenure
process. “The Dean’s Office still gives final approval,” he
says, “ but the system operates from and by the faculty perspective.”
Lawler indicates that the new structure has brought a higher level of professionalism
to the school. An unexpected benefit of the CTP, according to Lawler, is the
formation of strong, lasting relationships between students and faculty. Before
hiring, each department looks at a potential faculty member’s classroom
manner and people skills in addition to scholarly achievements, he says.
Of note in the Holy Cross tradition, Lawler says, is the impact of the College’s
presidents, most notably Fr. Swords and Fr. Brooks. Much of the student unrest
occurred during Fr. Swords’ tenure. Composed, strong, and with real understanding,
he moved the school into the modern era, according to Lawler. A number of times
he averted what could have been crisis situations, he says.
Fr. Brooks promoted the idea of academic excellence, grounds maintenance and
new building on campus. Lawler has been able to watch Smith Hall take shape through
his office window. “The new hall will give us a college center that we
never quite had before,” he says. Through Fr. Brooks’ efforts, the
student body has been elevated to a new standard as well. “He had a firm
hand on every aspect of the school,” says Lawler. “He created the
new Holy Cross.”
Upon retirement, Lawler plans to return to the school, but in a different capacity. “I’ll
sit in on some Italian classes,” he says. With some basic phrases under
his belt and a desire to return to Italy where he lived for nine months, he feels
the lessons will give him a more solid grasp of the language.
He and his wife also intend to tutor inmates at the Worcester House of Corrections
who are interested in Catholicism. Between the social work, reading, attending
concerts and lectures at Holy Cross and puttering in his garden, Lawler expects “to
fit in all the things he always wanted to do, but never could.”
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