6th Man of St. John's Basketball

St. John's Red Storm => In The Jungle... => Topic started by: kob24 on May 03, 2013, 11:22:42 PM

Title: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: kob24 on May 03, 2013, 11:22:42 PM
Not sure where to put this but how come no one has spoken about father Harrington quitting???
Title: Re: Ummmmm???
Post by: erickthered on May 03, 2013, 11:41:26 PM
Its all over redmen.com, and in ny post and daily news. Surprised i didn't see a thread when i logged on.
Title: Re: Ummmmm???
Post by: boo3 on May 03, 2013, 11:43:02 PM
 Talked about on the "Union&Utopia" section.... yeah, I never look there either.. But your post is the first I heard the story, so thanks.
Title: Re: Ummmmm???
Post by: Poison on May 04, 2013, 01:30:44 AM
I found this part of his resignation letter quite telling.

"There is nothing in life that I despise more than St.John's basketball. Every time i walked into that vile gymnasium, all i could think about was vomiting, and then i would day dream about tearing it down, and building a giant hand, so that students and alumni could place their hard earned money inside of it.

I especially hate St.John's fans. It is my only regret that I could not fully destroy the program during my tenor here."

In all honesty, I expected his feelings about our program to be filled with more hostility.
Title: Re: Ummmmm???
Post by: badbubby on May 04, 2013, 01:31:51 AM
I thought he was a baritone
Title: Re: Ummmmm???
Post by: Tiger on May 04, 2013, 06:53:55 AM
That's a horrible attitude.  The guy is leaving. Let him go.
Title: Re: Ummmmm???
Post by: jumpinjohnny on May 04, 2013, 07:38:52 AM
The embattled president of St. John's University is announcing his retirement today, and his chief of staff has already resigned in the face of an ongoing probe of lavish gifts they received from a corrupt dean at the Queens college who killed herself during a federal fraud trial, among other issues.

Father Donald Harrington, a Vincentian priest, who spent 24 years at the school, emailed his resignation as president to the St. John's community this afternoon. It is effective July 31.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/embattled_president_step_down_john_RNLzDsGfpeWNWsqZRKIMRP?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Local (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/embattled_president_step_down_john_RNLzDsGfpeWNWsqZRKIMRP?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=Local)
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: jumpinjohnny on May 04, 2013, 07:41:39 AM
http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=7271.msg154239;boardseen#new (http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=7271.msg154239;boardseen#new)
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: redslope on May 04, 2013, 12:31:04 PM
While people dance on the grave, one should look at the entire body of work to balance the good with the bad.  The decision to retire (I am sure there was a push behind it) is the correct one.  The major issue I have is the length of his tenure as president.  It is the same in any position--the longer one is in control, the greater the arrogance.  Bloomberg was considered a very good mayor through his first 2 terms; then he forces the City council to resind the term limits and term 3 has been a disaster for him as the numbers show in his approval ratings.  (same for Koch in his third term.)  The board will have to consider this in the future--no more presidents for life.  It will be interesting if a Vincentian replaces him or they choose someone outside the order or a lay person.  Bottom line is that SJU has grown in leaps and bounds in his 24 years.  To continue to grow and compete academically takes money so the new president will have to have those skills; hopefully that person loves basketball :)
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: RedStormyNight on May 04, 2013, 03:11:34 PM
It was on the front page of the Post (online edition) and I got probably 5 emails from SJ about it. That's prob why no one really talked on here about it since it was so big elsewhere already. Looks like he made some stupid decisions, but there is no doubt he helped SJ in the long run. You really can't dispute the accomplishments they listed...he turned SJ from a commuter only school to one where dorming is becoming more normal in a short period of time. The academic profile also continues to rise because we get 50,000 applications allowing us to be more picky. It would be really nice to see SJ acceptance rates go down to 35% or so attracting 3.5+ students. Right now the grad programs are much more selective than undergrad.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Poison on May 04, 2013, 10:04:54 PM
While people dance on the grave, one should look at the entire body of work to balance the good with the bad.  The decision to retire (I am sure there was a push behind it) is the correct one.  The major issue I have is the length of his tenure as president.  It is the same in any position--the longer one is in control, the greater the arrogance.  Bloomberg was considered a very good mayor through his first 2 terms; then he forces the City council to resind the term limits and term 3 has been a disaster for him as the numbers show in his approval ratings.  (same for Koch in his third term.)  The board will have to consider this in the future--no more presidents for life.  It will be interesting if a Vincentian replaces him or they choose someone outside the order or a lay person.  Bottom line is that SJU has grown in leaps and bounds in his 24 years.  To continue to grow and compete academically takes money so the new president will have to have those skills; hopefully that person loves basketball :)

We have not grown in basketball. And he was the reason.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: nrb155 on May 04, 2013, 10:50:58 PM
His social agenda sucked...plain and simple....bring me the guy who turns this school into fordham (academically speaking)
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: TONYD3 on May 05, 2013, 01:19:14 AM
Thank god
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Choz4Life on May 05, 2013, 08:59:09 AM
Legacy
Pro: campus look like a campus 'stead of a parking lot wit a few buildings round it.
Con: ball
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: FINAL4FRAN on May 05, 2013, 09:08:32 AM
I agree w nrb. St. John's was bypassed academically by the likes of the Villanovas, Fordhams and BCs of the world during his tenure. You need a new president who will raise the academic stature of the university while keeping to its Catholic roots.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: simplyred on May 05, 2013, 09:16:07 AM
I agree w nrb. St. John's was bypassed academically by the likes of the Villanovas, Fordhams and BCs of the world during his tenure. You need a new president who will raise the academic stature of the university while keeping to its Catholic roots.

Since I've been alive, St. John's has never been in front of those schools, to be bypassed.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: DoodyNY33 on May 05, 2013, 09:24:41 AM
Legacy
Pro: campus look like a campus 'stead of a parking lot wit a few buildings round it.
Con: ball

100% correct

The fact is there were some pro's to his tenure at St. John's.  There were lots of infrastructure changes to the campus that have made it look very nice for prospective students.  And Father Harrington was a very good fundraiser who increased the endowment fund.

However, nobody can really deny that (a) the academic reputation of the school has actually gone down the last 10-15 years (b) the basketball program was left to flounder for a good number of years.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: FINAL4FRAN on May 05, 2013, 09:46:49 AM
In the early 80s, kids would apply to all those schools and get into all of them. Now they are all hard to get into. Their academic rankings continue to rise and SJU should have followed suit but did not.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: desco80 on May 05, 2013, 12:28:56 PM
I think too much is made of academic reputation sometimes.   There are a number of truly elite universities, but after that quality is really specific to the individual.  How good your school is for you depends a lot on where you want to live and work and what field you're interested in.

Plus, the truth is that the Vincentian mission isn't an elitist one.   St Johns, Depaul, Niagara weren't founded to educate just the top 15%.   
It'd be like saying Ford isn't a good company, or Allan Mulally hasn't had a successful tenure, because they don't market a car in the $60k+ price range. 
Title: Re: Ummmmm???
Post by: kred on May 05, 2013, 12:56:53 PM
I found this part of his resignation letter quite telling.

"There is nothing in life that I despise more than St.John's basketball. Every time i walked into that vile gymnasium, all i could think about was vomiting, and then i would day dream about tearing it down, and building a giant hand, so that students and alumni could place their hard earned money inside of it.

I especially hate St.John's fans. It is my only regret that I could not fully destroy the program during my tenor here."

In all honesty, I expected his feelings about our program to be filled with more hostility.

Beautiful Poison. Twenty years too late. What a blowhard. One can never forget, especially in this forum, how he almost killed this program. And his apostles like oldfan and USCongress, who spoke their venom on RM.Com should man up and tell us how wrong they were for being his champion.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: TONYD3 on May 05, 2013, 01:11:56 PM
He made the school look nicer. I payed 11,000 fixed rate graduated in 2000. I think it has tripled in price since then
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: bobre45 on May 05, 2013, 01:33:23 PM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Poison on May 05, 2013, 08:55:20 PM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.

Clinton messed up? Huh? When using examples of corrupt people, you should use corrupt people.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: boo3 on May 05, 2013, 09:35:10 PM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.

Clinton messed up? Huh? When using examples of corrupt people, you should use corrupt people.

  um... he was/is a politician... corruption is a prerequisite..
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: shamsman2 on May 05, 2013, 09:57:09 PM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.
how was Bob Seger?
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: survivedc on May 05, 2013, 10:13:40 PM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.

Clinton messed up? Huh? When using examples of corrupt people, you should use corrupt people.

He did mess up. Not only did he cheat on his wife (while he was president) but also lied about it to the nation.

I agree with the original point about him being remembered for his mistakes though. He has really improved the University a lot, through expanded facilities, new majors and opportunities and making the school a generally more complete and open place. It is unfortunate he made such a glaring mistake that will, in the end, define him.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: thetruth8734 on May 06, 2013, 12:10:56 AM
Replace Clinton with Obama and perfect analogy.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: bobre45 on May 06, 2013, 09:15:45 AM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.
how was Bob Seger?
He was fantastic.  Great band and terrific songs.   Even sang "Like a Rock" for the first time in decades according to him.  Absolutely brought the house down.   Might be his last tour so try to catch him.  Well worth it.  Now we have the Eagles at Bethel Woods on 7/25 and Skynrd/Bad Company on 7/27.  Good year for concerts.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Poison on May 06, 2013, 09:29:48 AM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.

Clinton messed up? Huh? When using examples of corrupt people, you should use corrupt people.

He did mess up. Not only did he cheat on his wife (while he was president) but also lied about it to the nation.

I agree with the original point about him being remembered for his mistakes though. He has really improved the University a lot, through expanded facilities, new majors and opportunities and making the school a generally more complete and open place. It is unfortunate he made such a glaring mistake that will, in the end, define him.

He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

We don't know the extent of what Harrington did, but we are led to believe that it probably involved corruption/stealing.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: boo3 on May 06, 2013, 09:34:21 AM
Wouldn't it be great if accomplishments excused screw-ups.  I was at Penn State Thursday for a Bob Seger concert and there wasn't a trace of homage devoted to Joe Paterno despite all the wonderful things he accomplished.  The fact is that Harrington went down for what went down and that's the way it should be.  The same could be said about various people who messed up ie., Clinton etc. in positions of power.  He was a man of the cloth and what he did was a disgrace.  Another black mark for what should be a great university.  When does this crap stop?  A lot of attention should be paid to preventing similar occurences in the future.  Time for SJU to get it's act together henceforth and permanently.  I hope they proceed carefully and send Harrington to oblivion which he richly deserves.
how was Bob Seger?
He was fantastic.  Great band and terrific songs.   Even sang "Like a Rock" for the first time in decades according to him.  Absolutely brought the house down.   Might be his last tour so try to catch him.  Well worth it.  Now we have the Eagles at Bethel Woods on 7/25 and Skynrd/Bad Company on 7/27.  Good year for concerts.

 Bethel Woods is the best outdoor concert in the area, bar none..
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Foad on May 06, 2013, 09:57:41 AM
He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

Clinton was sanctioned and fined by a federal court for "engaging in misconduct that undermines the integrity of the judicial system." He relinquished his law license in Arkansas and was disbarred by the US Supreme Court. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html. (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html.) Evidently it was somebody's business.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Poison on May 06, 2013, 10:01:34 AM
He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

Clinton was sanctioned and fined by a federal court for "engaging in misconduct that undermines the integrity of the judicial system." He relinquished his law license in Arkansas and was disbarred by the US Supreme Court. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html. (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html.) Evidently it was somebody's business.

Great at his job. Maybe not so much his marriage. Better this way, than the other way around. Don't you agree?
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: redslope on May 06, 2013, 10:23:07 AM
He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

Clinton was sanctioned and fined by a federal court for "engaging in misconduct that undermines the integrity of the judicial system." He relinquished his law license in Arkansas and was disbarred by the US Supreme Court. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html. (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html.) Evidently it was somebody's business.

At least he did not get us into the longest war this country has been involved in with lies about the status of Iraq and did not leave our economy in the crapper.  I prefer a president who lies about sex rather than national security issues.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Poison on May 06, 2013, 10:26:34 AM
He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

Clinton was sanctioned and fined by a federal court for "engaging in misconduct that undermines the integrity of the judicial system." He relinquished his law license in Arkansas and was disbarred by the US Supreme Court. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html. (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html.) Evidently it was somebody's business.

At least he did not get us into the longest war this country has been involved in with lies about the status of Iraq and did not leave our economy in the crapper.  I prefer a president who lies about sex rather than national security issues.

But, he is a good husband.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Foad on May 06, 2013, 10:28:32 AM
Great at his job. Maybe not so much his marriage. Better this way, than the other way around. Don't you agree?

I disagree that he was great as his job. I agree that he was "maybe not so much [great] at marriage," in the same way that Oprah is maybe not so much great at dieting. I agree generally that it does less harm to the commonweal when public servants are corrupt in their public lives than in their private ones. I disagree that Clinton was not corrupt in his public life.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: desco80 on May 06, 2013, 10:29:10 AM
In Clinton's case you could argue the coverup was worse than what he was accused of doing.    I'm not so sure that's true in Fr H's situation.   
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Foad on May 06, 2013, 10:34:41 AM
He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

Clinton was sanctioned and fined by a federal court for "engaging in misconduct that undermines the integrity of the judicial system." He relinquished his law license in Arkansas and was disbarred by the US Supreme Court. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html. (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html.) Evidently it was somebody's business.

At least he did not get us into the longest war this country has been involved in with lies about the status of Iraq and did not leave our economy in the crapper.  I prefer a president who lies about sex rather than national security issues.

That might be a salient point if GW Bush were under discussion. He isn't, so it's not.

Clinton, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, was sanctioned for perjury. Perjury is by definition public corruption. Therefore Clinton was publicly corrupt. RIL.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: SJUFAN on May 06, 2013, 06:46:07 PM
He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

Clinton was sanctioned and fined by a federal court for "engaging in misconduct that undermines the integrity of the judicial system." He relinquished his law license in Arkansas and was disbarred by the US Supreme Court. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html. (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html.) Evidently it was somebody's business.

At least he did not get us into the longest war this country has been involved in with lies about the status of Iraq and did not leave our economy in the crapper.  I prefer a president who lies about sex rather than national security issues.

That might be a salient point if GW Bush were under discussion. He isn't, so it's not.

Clinton, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, was sanctioned for perjury. Perjury is by definition public corruption. Therefore Clinton was publicly corrupt. RIL.

Since it’s the group that decides the subject matter I believe there is a point when comparing Clinton vs. GWB. One is a man’s indiscretion with another woman which should not have even lead to questions to the point where he would be put in position to perjury himself, imo. I understand there are moral issues, but let’s not pretend that many politicians cheat on their wives. The fact that his was brought to the public is curious to say the least. What was he supposed to say? He’s a politician for Christ sake.
The other however, lies lead to a war where thousands of men, women, and children lost their lives. Let’s not forget the financial collapse that almost bankrupted this country just so his friends could have a few billion dollars instead of a measly couple hundred million. Yet Clinton is the corrupt one because he was found guilty. I guess OJ was a victim because he was found not guilty. Poor OJ, all the stuff he had to indoor and he was actually innocent! Maybe Clinton was "publicly corrupt", but really, which one is worst? Clinton's lies or GWB?
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Foad on May 06, 2013, 08:35:13 PM
Since it’s the group that decides the subject matter I believe there is a point when comparing Clinton vs. GWB. One is a man’s indiscretion with another woman which should not have even lead to questions to the point where he would be put in position to perjury himself, imo. I understand there are moral issues, but let’s not pretend that many politicians cheat on their wives. The fact that his was brought to the public is curious to say the least. What was he supposed to say? He’s a politician for Christ sake.

The other however, lies lead to a war where thousands of men, women, and children lost their lives. Let’s not forget the financial collapse that almost bankrupted this country just so his friends could have a few billion dollars instead of a measly couple hundred million. Yet Clinton is the corrupt one because he was found guilty. I guess OJ was a victim because he was found not guilty. Poor OJ, all the stuff he had to indoor and he was actually innocent! Maybe Clinton was "publicly corrupt", but really, which one is worst? Clinton's lies or GWB?

Well I disagree. Besides being the last Whig president Millard Filmore signed into law the Fugitive Slave Act, which returned runaway slaves to their masters. Which was worse, slavery or the Korean War?`Besides which Filmore was unable to stop the invasion of Cuba and then later apologized to Cuba for the invasion. I suppose because Cuba was invaded in the 1850s that is precedent for the US invasion of Cuba and makes the Bay of Pigs fiasco okay? John Kennedy invaded Cuba and cheated on his wife with Marilyn Monroe while taking daily injections of amphetamines and he never apologized for getting any bush whatsoever or for Cuba and Obama apologized to whole world and I can't even get a good cigar anymore because of that stupid embargo. I say neither is public business. The fact is that Zachary Taylor wasn't all he was cracked up to be and if Filmore murdered him that doesn't prove OJ is guilty and it doesn't mean John Wayne Gacy was innocent either, even though he wore a hairpiece.

Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: nudginator59 on May 06, 2013, 10:31:19 PM
Is there a political section to wine over who was the liar or who was more corrupt...    Father Harrington turn St. John's into a beautiful "adult"  campus where you feel like your going to a real college instead of the 13th grade.

The issue is that he sacraficed the soul of the school to do it. The Change to Redmen to Redstorm really divided the school and then letting the basketball team rot, broke the major thing that united the school. The multiculturalism push instead of school spirit (We are St. John's) further hurt St. John's.

In the Father Harrington's legacy will take some time to decipher, but I think he will have a Benadict Arnold type legacy. If Arnold would have died before at the battle Saratoga he would have been viewed as a great American hero. If Father Harrington would left 5-10years ago he would have been viewed as a visionary.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: survivedc on May 06, 2013, 11:49:41 PM
He wasn't corrupt at his job. Just at his marriage, which is none of our business.

Clinton was sanctioned and fined by a federal court for "engaging in misconduct that undermines the integrity of the judicial system." He relinquished his law license in Arkansas and was disbarred by the US Supreme Court. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html. (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/national/01WIRE-CLIN.html.) Evidently it was somebody's business.

At least he did not get us into the longest war this country has been involved in with lies about the status of Iraq and did not leave our economy in the crapper.  I prefer a president who lies about sex rather than national security issues.

That might be a salient point if GW Bush were under discussion. He isn't, so it's not.

Clinton, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, was sanctioned for perjury. Perjury is by definition public corruption. Therefore Clinton was publicly corrupt. RIL.

Since it’s the group that decides the subject matter I believe there is a point when comparing Clinton vs. GWB. One is a man’s indiscretion with another woman which should not have even lead to questions to the point where he would be put in position to perjury himself, imo. I understand there are moral issues, but let’s not pretend that many politicians cheat on their wives. The fact that his was brought to the public is curious to say the least. What was he supposed to say? He’s a politician for Christ sake.
The other however, lies lead to a war where thousands of men, women, and children lost their lives. Let’s not forget the financial collapse that almost bankrupted this country just so his friends could have a few billion dollars instead of a measly couple hundred million. Yet Clinton is the corrupt one because he was found guilty. I guess OJ was a victim because he was found not guilty. Poor OJ, all the stuff he had to indoor and he was actually innocent! Maybe Clinton was "publicly corrupt", but really, which one is worst? Clinton's lies or GWB?

I don't really want to get into this discussion, but if you actually think that George W. Bush was responsible for the economic collapse of the mid-late 2000's then you are unbelievably ignorant of how the economic and political system of this country works. It's just ludicrous to ever claim that he caused that. And if I could add real quick, just so I don't get some "Bush lover" accusations, I can't stand the dude.

I also don't get your logic as far as Clinton goes. It gets brought to the public so he's supposed to tell the truth. Do you hold politicians to a different standard, expecting them to lie to you? Regardless of whether or not he should have been in that situation, he was, and he failed in it.

People in positions of authority are held to different standards, that's just the way it is. It's why Fr. Harrington is in such a tough spot right now. When people look up to you, and have to listen to what you say, you better be on your best behavior. And as President, your private life is now your public life, and you should be held accountable for anything and everything that you do.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: SJUFAN on May 07, 2013, 12:42:47 AM
I don't really want to get into this discussion, but if you actually think that George W. Bush was responsible for the economic collapse of the mid-late 2000's then you are unbelievably ignorant of how the economic and political system of this country works. It's just ludicrous to ever claim that he caused that. And if I could add real quick, just so I don't get some "Bush lover" accusations, I can't stand the dude.

I also don't get your logic as far as Clinton goes. It gets brought to the public so he's supposed to tell the truth. Do you hold politicians to a different standard, expecting them to lie to you? Regardless of whether or not he should have been in that situation, he was, and he failed in it.

People in positions of authority are held to different standards, that's just the way it is. It's why Fr. Harrington is in such a tough spot right now. When people look up to you, and have to listen to what you say, you better be on your best behavior. And as President, your private life is now your public life, and you should be held accountable for anything and everything that you do.


Didn't say Bush was responsible for the collapse, but he was responsible for the bail out and a war, both of which were based on lies. People profited greatly from those lies. As far as Clinton goes, if a bunch of guys are out fooling around on their wives, why is only one of them being chastised for it when you know others are involved? It's the hypocrisy, they don't really care what Clinton was doing, all they cared about was throwing him under the bus and they did, not that he shouldn't be held accountable.

I'm not sure what Fr. Harrington's involvement is, but he did a lot for St. John's. Maybe not so much for the basketball program. I believe a person should be remembered by his many deeds, and not by the rare indiscretion. We are after all......human. 
   
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: erickthered on May 07, 2013, 03:30:12 AM
Hey fan, didn't realize a president can single handily lead us into war. I thought there was a system based on checks and balances. And i'm sure you also believe 9/11 was also GWB's fault as well all hatched in his 9 months in office, it wasn't planned at all during the 8 yrs under Clinton. You will probably follow BO right into Syria without any objections.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: jumpinjohnny on May 07, 2013, 06:50:51 AM
Guys ...way too political...take it to the off topic board.  Nobody wants to read this stuff here.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: Poison on May 07, 2013, 08:41:22 AM
The only part of this Harrington situation that relates to basketball is the damage that he knowingly and maliciously did to our program. We have a new coach and we'll have a new president soon. Hopefully, it will be someone with a different value system than Harrington.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: newsman13 on May 07, 2013, 10:14:06 AM
except harrington was president when lavin was hired.  i'm sure some pr person can spin that into FH turned the program around.
Title: Re: Fr. Harrington Retires
Post by: derk on May 07, 2013, 10:49:19 AM
except harrington was president when lavin was hired.  i'm sure some pr person can spin that into FH turned the program around.

He did. He dialed Repole's number.