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By Elizabeth T. Walker
Nearly 75 years have passed since architect Cass Gilbert
designed “a building of dignity and importance” to
serve as the permanent home to the United States Supreme
Court. The imposing neoclassical structure that resulted
first opened its six-and-a-half ton bronze doors in 1935,
promising “equal justice under law” to all who
passed through the 16 columns that define its main entrance.
Today the venerable edifice stands as the “final arbiter” of
the law, the protector of our constitutional liberties and,
it seems, a great place to throw a party.
Nearly 200 Holy Cross alumni, parents and friends in the
Washington, D.C., area learned that firsthand when, on Nov.
22, they gathered for an extraordinary evening set within
the soaring spaces of the magnificent U.S. Supreme Court
Building. As guests of Justice Clarence Thomas ’71,
the distinguished crowd, including five federal judges, celebrated
the $175-million Lift High the Cross Campaign, launched publicly
a year ago. As featured speaker, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. ’62,
director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases and internationally known for taking the lead in
HIV/AIDS funding and research, shared his perspective on
the importance of the “Jesuit experience” at Holy
Cross.
Security was tight at the after-hours event. Each guest
was screened at the building’s entrances before ascending
to the Great Hall, the grand corridor leading to the Courtroom.
Dwarfed by massive marble columns, fascinated by intricate
friezes and awed by the Hall’s coffered ceiling more
than 40 feet above, the partygoers walked the red carpet
(literally) to join an overflow crowd for cocktails in a
conference room just beyond the highest court. Justice Thomas,
Dr. Fauci, current Holy Cross President Michael McFarland,
S.J., and President Emeritus John Brooks, S.J.,’49,
as well as Board and Campaign chairs, Michael Collins, M.D., ’77
and Jack Rehm ’54, respectively, attracted many well-wishers.
Most of the guests stopped before dinner to view the Courtroom
from its gated doorway.
Called to dinner by the Supreme Court bell, the black-tie
crowd was seated at nearly two dozen tables placed on the
high-gloss marble floor of the Great Hall. Dinner was served
within sight of the Courtroom, with its raised bench and
nine out-sized, high-backed, brown leather chairs, where
Justice Thomas and the nation’s other top jurists hear
oral arguments.
Following opening remarks from Steve Urbanczyk ’71,
co-chair of both the dinner and regional campaign committees
with Jane Sullivan Roberts ’76, Justice Thomas welcomed
the celebrants to “your Supreme Court.” He talked
about the important and deep friendships he made during his
four years on the Hill—relationships that continue to
this day. He said that he gained a critical skill at Holy
Cross: “learning how to think,” which helped prepare
him for his role as a Supreme Court Justice. Each day, the
job requires him to “think my way to the truth.” The
crowd gave Justice Thomas a standing ovation.
Featured speaker Anthony Fauci ’62 observed that his
Jesuit educational experiences created in him a “thirst
for knowledge” that has continued over four decades,
making him “a perpetual student.” He added that,
such students almost never get bored, constantly try to improve
themselves and develop “a chronic sense of low-grade
anxiety and a nagging feeling of inadequacy,” which
he describes to students and postdoctoral fellows at the
National Institutes of Health as “the curse of the Jesuits”.
“Thus, for me, the ‘curse of the Jesuits’ has
been a wonderful curse, since it has energized and pushed
me over the years to pursue directions of research and tackle
problems that I might not have, had I not been driven by
my very special training and experiences.”
Following a standing ovation for Fauci, the guests received
a benediction from Monsignor Peter Vaghi ’70, sang the
Alma Mater, then slowly retraced their steps along the marble
corridor to descend from the Great Hall—and the spectacular
evening in a place of “dignity and importance” came
to a close.
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