Monks March In

Lisa Bacon,,,

Be yourself,

Hey, Exxon Guy, You've got a big mouth....My number is 288-4065, give me a call if you want to bloviate!!!

Hi everybody. My name's Alex Craven, BHS class of '07. Now I'm a boxer at the Naval Academy, class of '11 and will be commissioned a Marine infantry officer after I graduate. My family could not afford to pay the tuition to attend BHS, and I will be forever grateful to that school for helping us out financially. I ran cross country and track, wrestled, shot on the rifle team, was in national honor society, and did countless other extracurricular activities. Hmm, so I guess Benedictine was able to help me get into a decent school.

I loved being a Cadet. One day I hope to make a lot of money so that I can go back and help out the school as much as possible. Could I have gotten to where I am now at a public school? Perhaps. Would I have traded my 4 years at BHS for anything else? HELL NO. Those memories will stay with me for the rest of my life. There is so much more to that school than its excellent academic, athletic, military, or even religious programs. What MAKES Benedictine are people like Coach Savage, Coach Arnold, Colonel Falkenbach, Father Adrian, Father Gresko, SGM Branch, 1SG Plumley, Captain Lilly, and many others who can rough and tumble with the guys and earn their respect (and sometimes fear). Where else can you have a teacher smack a student with a stick that is comprised of half a dozen yard sticks glued together? Geez, that's what young boys need in this politically correct era of fast food and "diversity". Yeah, BHS is not perfect, oh and yes, it's having some financial problems right now (in case you forgot, the world is in what might be considered an economic slump).

All's I'm getting at is that BHS is truly a rarity today, and we should all be doing as much as we can to support it. So they fire Mr. McGinty and bring in Father Gresko. Big woop. BHS has a much deeper center of gravity than its headmaster. Besides, I know Father Gresko. Give the guy a chance.

And as far as the facebook thing with Gresko give me a break. "oooh, Father friend-requested me on a website where I keep in touch with my friends". I'll bet the North Korean citizens sit in their mud huts terrified that a PRIEST will ask to see their facebook page. And Father Mark's emphasis on masturbation at retreats? HMMM, well let's think about this one for a second. It's a school of 250+ boys aged 14-18. Not sure if you know this, but male teenagers tend to "choke the chicken" quite a lot. What could be a more pertinent topic? Setting up a 401k perhaps?

And in regards to the "my school's better than your school" comments: a school is only a tool for someone to use. Benedictine offers many things that other school's don't. Now, there are some students there who take advantage of those things, and others who do not. Who's to blame for that? At the Naval Academy, there are some students who will be Rhodes Scholars, and other students who will squeak by without accomplishing much academically.

In 2007, BHS sent 4 seniors to service academies. 2 to Navy, 1 to Army, and 1 to Merchant Marine. Is Benedictine the sole reason for us getting accepted to these schools? No, we had to work our asses off. But Benedictine was the tool we used to get what we wanted. And I had a great time while doing it. GO CADETS

McKenna should stick to selling overpriced gasoline.

I don't see how holding degrees from anywhere makes someone qualified and that's the point! The new headmaster has 5 degrees that he is touting but they don't mean anything.
Please quit putting words in my mouth because I didn't say singing for the pope makes father Greg more qualified, you are clearly mocking me now and it is really making your own arguments look dumb. What I was referring to was Fr. Greg has clear connections to the Archabbey in Rome and is well respected there. It is a different sort of connection that could potentially serve us well.

Secondly, as a mature adult I won't delve into the immature gay bashing that St. Chris does as much as Benedictine. As I said, I hang out with St. Chris graduates in college so I have no ill will toward any of the people.

I know you personally enjoy watching BHS suffer and I'd appreciate it if you aren't going to be constructive, at least don't be destructive.

And I supposed this is the part where the anonymous BHS graduate will claim that everyone who ever went to Princeton or Brown "is gay". He will then label the vast majority of St. C graduates "homos".

Then he will reiterate the stong christian foundation which BHS instills in its graduates, as evidenced by his ignorant rantings and stereotyping.

Apparently singing for the pope makes Father Greg more qualified to run a school than the current headmaster at St. Christopher's, who holds degrees from Princeton and Brown.

I want to know more about Brother Nolte, his past businesses and previous marriages.

No. But to say the man has no connections is ridiculous. Good try to make me sound dumb. I think St. Chris should mind their own business.

Down boys, boys, boys. There are some nasty threads of discussion here.

Singing is a qualification for head of school?

Hey by the way, if you are interested in seeing Father Greg, he sang the gospel for Pope Benedict's first mass. So I guess you could say it could benefit BHS to have someone so well respected by the Head Abbey of the Benedictine Order in Rome and by the Pope. What did your head master do? Write a novel or a poem, probably, or if he's an episcopal priest, married to another dude thats allowed now right?

Hey thanks for your concern but it's not needed. This IS the schools problem and the abbey's financial problem and we've been trying to buy the school off for months. This is their only real asset, a prime peace of real estate in the fan. We alums are keeping a close eye on the situation, in the mean time, we will continue to kick your [censored] in every imaginable way: college acceptances and athletics despite how poor we are. I hope some Saint Chris alum can come and bail me out in life because high school is such a benchmark of life success.

The problem with BHS is that we're men and we don't rely on daddy to hand over the estate when we're 24 years old. Vinyard Vines called, they said quit posting here.

When they dismiss a well-respected headmaster and are forced to sell the building in order to make ends meet, it sounds like it is BHS' problem, not just the Abbey's.

And it will really be a problem when they move the school into the delapidated Abbey facility. 6 million would buy a new A/C unit (which it does not currently have), a new roof (which it desperately needs) and perhaps a 200-seat gym. A fresh coat of a paint and some weed killer would be in next year's budget.

I am surprised at even a St Christopher's alum/affiliate taking such pleasure in the misfortune of others. So much for a good natured rivalry between schools. BHS guys, ignore these distractions, consider the source and keep your eye on the prize. Don't get pulled down in the mire by one mean-spirited person. It's counter-productive.

All is not lost!!!!
As proficied in The Book of Lukish… "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children. The ball is the answer. Whilst the Ball is Devine, thou shall command the Ball to thine will. Command the Ball through the righteous hoop or over the glorious fence or between the upright posts of the Lord. As long as thou commandeth the Ball, thine serves the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

That would be the abbey's problem. They are on their last dying breath and are trying to leach on for support. The school in and of itself is fine. The fact that we were able to offer $6 million for the building doesn't sound like desperation. I am glad though that you are so keen on the book keeping practices of Benedictine High School. You are an atypical bimbo who gets jollies off to the first piece of sensational journalism he finds. I am sure Benedictine going down is music to every Saint Chris alums ears, but we have a few more tricks up our sleeves. Thanks for playing. I may or may not have more insider scoop than most and especially you. You decide.

I see your mission of accomplishing "all four" is working out nicely, as your school is now broke and cannot pay its bills.

I would rather be poor, Catholic and on the brink of financial collapse than be a Saint Chris grad. Apparently the math courses aren't up to par with BHS's so I will elaborate. 90/250 students 36% are on financial aid and 19% are at Saint Chris. Those platinum division flash cards in 12th grade didn't pay off.
The goal of the Catholic education is to provide affordable private education to all regardless of finances. It's a charity. It isn't meant to be rich, or to tout a large endowment. It is meant to be a diverse tight knit community of people who help each other out and care for each other, a brotherhood if you will, and do not say Saint Chris is because you guys are cliquey, I attend college with them. Just because we are not White anglo saxon protestants doesn't make us inferior

Also the military aspect has forged some of our alums to make the ultimate sacrifice which I am sure a far less amount of St. Chris grads have.

It is this unique mixture of academia, athletics, orthodox Catholicism and military discipline that makes BHS a different place.

Again, Saint Chris likes to poke fun at BHS because we aren't elite, and we are not supposed to be. They are two different missions. At Saint Chris you get academics, at BHS you get all four.

That said, our college placements are Notre Dame, UVA, Tech, JMU, Clemson, Military academies, Duke, Tulane, Georgia Tech, UNC, Wake Forest.

Saint Chris's are Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney, Hampden Sydney,

Actually, approx 19% of St. Christopher's students receive financial aid. And St. Christopher's funded over 1.7 million in financial aid last year, 3.5x more than Benedictine. Even though tuition is only approx $2,000 more.

You point out that the BHS endowment primarily pays for financial aid. However, a 1.5 million dollar endowment would generate approx 50,000/year, which would be enough to pay for 4 or 5 scholarships.

Its a simple matter of dollars and cents. And the BHS alumni simply don't (or aren't capable) of contributing enough to maintain a decent financial cushion for tough economic times.

Benedictine is all about equilibrium and if Fr. Greg isn't meant to be, then he will pushed out. The daily opposition of the students, the parents, the alums, it will be too much for him if he does a bad job. They did this as a last stop to save the abbey, you should be upset that they've had to do this, but they did. So let it run its course, this will be a rough year and you and myself as alums have a duty to support the school once it is out of the Abbey's hands. I think next year everything will be fine though.

Congrats to the monks,
I went to school there, my brothers went, my sons go, their uncles went, we are currently exploring other choices for my boys. Please explain why this would be a good idea. Brother Gregorey does not have the resume to be an elementary school principal. Thanks for ruining 100 years of greatness.
By the way, "restoring the proper balance between academics and athletics" great, Bishop Sullivan comes to mind. Let's cancel all sports because someone may get hurt, or maybe the monks never participated in a competitive athletic event EVER.
This makes me sick.

Are there not academically strong parochial schools that are also economically viable and serve the masses? While Catholic schools (and military schools) appear to be on the decline nationwide, surely there are examples of success around the country.

As a parochial school, BHS chose not to increase tuition incrementally over the years, trying to remain an inexpensive alternative education option for middle income families. Other private schools are marketing themselves to a different population, predominantly wealthy white people. BHS boasts a 17% minority population most other private schools are below 7%. While its endowment is a small fraction of what other school enjoy, BHS enables around 90 students to receive the financial aid necessary for them to attend. Virtually all of the endowment funds scholarships and financial aid. This is their mission, not a showy philanthropic way to spend excess funds or assuage its "white man's guilt."

To emerge from this crisis, BHS needs to manage expenses efficiently and seek additional sources of funding to include increased enrollment, increased alumni giving, higher tuition and gifts/grants.

BHS seeks to combine leadership, through the military, with character, through the values taught via the Catholic church....sort of the "Holy Grail" of education, but our society, desparate for men of character, needs to deliberately create heros. Let's hope BHS can weather this storm and emerge better than ever.

The commandant is coming back because they could not afford the man they wanted for the post, according to the abbot.

So what should Benedictine do to make itself more economically viable and competitive? Based on all of the postings by the BHS community and on the media reporting, the entire situation appears to be one last gasp for air.

Good for St. Catherine's. But if you look at the student base of St. Catherine's. St Christopher's or Collegiate, they predominately come from more well-to-do families who can afford to give $1 milllion. On the other hand, BHS has a lot more families who are not in that position and make family sacrifices to pay their sons' tuition knowing the quality education they will get. If the BHS family could give the $1milion, we would not be in this situation.

I understand the parents/grandparents of St. Catherine's graduating class made a gift to the school of $1.2 million at graduation. This in a 'market downturn'. Money is still out there in Richmond. Could it be that Benedictine might not be offering a competitive product?

I'm glad to hear someone else wonder what Fr.Greg is bringing to the table that is better/smarter/faster than what McGinty had. McG was no finance manager, but neither is Fr Greg, by his own admission. But McG had years of experience with students and parents and the good judgement in working with both that only experience brings. Further, he has the respect and the benefit of a vast network of education professionals in the state. Fr Greg hasn't even been in the country for the last 3 or 4 years. His knowledge and expertise is academic "book learnin'" He has never run a school or even really taught school, beyond a single class here and there overseas. I believe he is overestimating his ability to manage people. He is an acquired taste and I would remind him that pride goeth before a fall.

From the meeting yesterday, when Fr. Gregory was asked what specifically were the monks going to be doing, I did not hear one mention of teaching a class beyond what they are doing now!! It was administrative work and being "Chaplains" to different groups.
My question is how does this save money? I can see saving McGinty's salary but what other specific items are saving money?

Fr. Gregory admitted to not being a bookkeeper as did McGinty and they are having "Business" people help with financials. Why couldn't McGinty work with them too?

As far as the military, I think going back to some of the older discipline methods might be better. If the monks can't control the class rooms, the military should be able to do it. But - I think bringing back the commandant is a big mistake. I know the parents do not care for him and the students certainly do not!! I agree that he was probably just the low bid man to get through the next year.

What might all of this less than flattering foolishness do to enrollment? WIll parents be lining up after this? People were not exactly beating the doors down to get in before.

Poster below me, we don't need to engage in libel of the monks. Let the parents bring that concern up. Fr. Greg was an engaged man.

Something else to consider: a number of parents were disturbed by Father Gresko's repeated efforts to "friend" the boys on Facebook and by Father Mark's constant focus on masturbation during his retreat talks with the boys.

One last ditch effort for the monks to save themselves. This will damage the high school but I think we'll be OK as long as enrollment is up, but I think if this experiment doesn't work out then the abbey is done. I am sure alumni are already devising a take over strategy as we speak. I have no sources, just saying it wouldn't surprise me.

Academics are not at issue here under McGinty, the program offerings were more challenging and teachers were pushed to greater excellence. Don't forget, he got rid of teachers who did not perform up to standards. He also saw the shortcomings of the commandant, which is why he was first fired before Gresko brought him back. And why did he come back? Because they couldn't afford the guy they really wanted. So next year, we have a low-bid commandant. Great move, monks!

The monks of the good old days of Fr. Adrian and Fr. Donald were scary rod-bearing forces-to-be-reckoned-with, parceling out justice in ways that included making boys kneel on gravel and recite prayers for punishment. Fr. Adrian is an ex-sailor who held Navy boxing championships! Fond memories among ex-cadets of corporal punishment is a like remembering the hell of boot camp or the hazing of "rat year" times have changed. Monks have changed. Acceptable discipline methods have changed. These same alum who profess to think that what today's cadet needs is a little old fashioned monk-discipline are the same ones who object the loudest when their little darlings are corrected by means far gentler than the paddle they remember so happily. Further, social mores no longer include physical intervention as acceptable corrective discipline for high school students, even if this crop of monks were so disposed, which they are not.

This change in governance is primarily aimed at reforming the financial/fiscal management of the school, not the quality of the education that is rendered. Contrary to the comments made on this site by the former teacher, enhanced program rigor is available for those students who have the ability to take advantage of it. As a Catholic school with a mission beyond the educational elitism so prevalent among some of its competitors, BHS seeks to attract students from a broader footprint, which includes very smart kids and very average kids. Graduating seniors are going to prestigious schools, like Notre Dame, Duke and UVA, so clearly their education, their scores and their grades passed muster. Maybe program rigor was just missing in YOUR class, but that would be more of a commentary on your teaching ability rather than on the skill of the rest of the faculty.

In closing, and this is my last word on this, BHS and the Abbey need better financial management, and if the monks can provide that, hooray. But, BHS does not have the luxury of providing on-the-job training to a bunch of inexperienced, over-confident, unqualified guys who have an over-simplified view of what running a school entails. There is too much to do and too much at stake to spend time and money getting these fellas up to speed. In short, they are the wrong men for the job.

I worked at the BHS for several years. All I can say is that it was a poorly managed place with little - if any - academic rigor (and that was WITH educational professionals running the place). The monks were barely able to teach their religion classes. If they could not maintain control of their classrooms, how do they plan to run the school? As for dissolving the board, good riddance. They are a crooked bunch of good ole boys. Transparency is a word they are totally unaware of and couldn't begin to understand. That place is going down....

To be FACTUAL, Fr. Greg, while he will be quick to tell you actually has 5 undergraduate degrees, doesn't plan to teach. So, I reiterate, none of the monks who are candidates for the classroom are trained teachers with expertise in subjects other than theology. Monks have attempted to teach in the recent past, but each, with only one exception, have failed to complete even one grading period. These are the same individuals who are being considered again and upon whom we are to depend to deliver the school from the jaws of insolvency??? Riiiiight.

What concerns me also is the lack of preparation and experience these monks have. They showed tonight that they have little respect for the Benedictine family outside their own little world. The abbot - who identified himself as the CEO of the school - clearly tried to blame everyone else for the financial mess. And now he's leaving town because his term is up. He said it's unrelated to the current situation.

The lack of transparency about this entire issue is of grave concern. The meeting tonight provided little confidence that these monks have the ability to manage this school.

To be fair: In addition to his theological background, Father Gregory Gresko holds an M.A. in Secondary Education from William and Mary the assertion that "the monks... do not hold a degree in a subject other than theology" is incorrect.

While the monks may be college graduates, they have not proven that they can handle the rigors of teaching in an all-boys school. They do not have teaching certificates nor do they hold degrees in subjects other than theology. Further, while some are too old to teach (70+), others are quite young and lack life or job experience none are parents. Few, if any, have managed anything, including a large staff of teachers and support personnel. BHS is a small business with a $5MM budget. Maybe Obama will bail them out too!!!

Rev. Gresko will make an outstanding headmaster who will restore the proper balance between academics and athletics and restore the school's academic credibility.

A little perspective here. For most of its history, the headmaster of Benedictine High School was a Benedictine and the faculty were also religious - priests and monks of the order. Anyone familiar with the recent history knows that the elderly monks had no choice to replace religious with laity because they just were not up to running the place anymore. In recent years, however, the number of younger, well-educated priests and monks at the abbey in Goochland has increased and they are now at the point where they have the talent to resume their traditional role in the school.

Thanks to Lisa Antonelli Bacon for shedding some light on what has otherwise been a very closeted issue.

Wow!