John “Skip” DeGilio

Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Ann Sandri
For the Marist College Archives and Special Collections
















John “Skip” DeGilio






Transcript – John “Skip” DeGilio
Interviewee:
John “Skip” DeGilio
Interviewer:
Gus Nolan
Interview Date:
October 7, 2016

Location:
Marist Archives and Special Collections
Topic:
Marist College History
See Also:
MHP – Oral History
http://library.marist.edu/archives/oral_history.html

Subject Headings:
DeGilio, John “Skip”



Marist College – History



Marist College (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)



Marist College – Social Aspects








Summary
: John comments on his career at both Marist and Vassar. This includes his tenure as
a professor in the Computer Science field and later in Environmental Science, his opinions on
the Marist students, campus and The Center for Lifetime Study.











John DeGilio (
00:00:03
):
Today is Friday, October 7th. We have the honor of interviewing. John "Skip" DeGilio It's hard to say
John because I always call him skip and the rest of the world does too.
John DeGilio (
00:00:22
):
Well, you know the "Skip" is because there are two John DeGilios on the staff here. And one way of
distinguishing myself from the other John DeGilio was to use my nickname "Skip."
John DeGilio (
00:00:36
):
Yeah, What is relationship between you?
John DeGilio (
00:00:40
):
Cousins
Gus Nolan (
00:00:41
):
You're cousins, first cousins I noticed with the same name. Okay. That's a good introduction to this. Now
I was going to say here, we're doing this essentially in three parts today, that is before Marist . Okay.
Kind of Marist and then post-marriage future where you see it's going, et cetera, et cetera. So before
Marist, can you give us a short thumbnail of your early years touching on place of birth, childhood?
John DeGilio (
00:01:11
):
My first introduction to Marist?
Gus Nolan (
00:01:13
):
No. Yeah. Yeah. Elementary school.
John DeGilio (
00:01:16
):
I was at Mount Carmel school. Yeah, I grew up on Mount Carmel place and I lived across the street from
the church and one of the perks that I got for being an alter boy from the time I was in my fourth grade
was to use the Marist pool. That was a come on to build the core of servers at Mount Carmel church.
Was that if you were actively participating, you'd get to use the pool at Marist.
Gus Nolan (
00:01:56
):
Well, is it a one day event or a number of times in the course of the summer,
John DeGilio (
00:02:00
):
In the course of a summer, it was usually three or four times we came with a pastor or we came with
one of the priests who brought a, Oh, maybe four or five of us to enjoy the pool.
Gus Nolan (
00:02:15
):
All right. Let's go back to the education aspect of things though. Mount Carmel was followed by where?


John DeGilio (
00:02:24
):
I went from there up to the eighth ward in Poughkeepsie and I went to Krieger school, moved my parish
from Mount Carmel to Holy Trinity. And I basically lost contact until I went to high school at Cardinal
Farley, which was an Irish Christian brothers school in Rhinecliff, New York. And at the time I was
considering joining the Irish Christian brothers, but my recollections of Marist made that a competitive
goal. However, I went to college from there at New Paltz and discovered that I really, my God given
talent was in teaching. I met a girl from around the corner, got married and began teaching in after
military service. Began teaching in the city of Poughkeepsie.
Gus Nolan (
00:03:39
):
Let's talk about the military a little bit. When we went in the military, or where
John DeGilio (
00:03:44
):
I was in the military in 1959 and 1960. And I taught in the service in a nuclear weapons school. I did that
for two years and then left the service to come to Poughkeepsie to teach. I taught there for about 10
years and during that time I served on at least two committees that were Marist programs for summer
programs for disadvantaged kids. And I did that once it was under the auspices of BOCES. So I had some
contact with Marist as we put together those summer programs.
Gus Nolan (
00:04:44
):
Okay. You're jumping a little bit ahead. I wanted to fill in some of the years interest you might've had
sports, hobbies, collections and music, in you know, high school, college, can speak about that. Is some
more of a background to how you got to where you are?
John DeGilio (
00:05:06
):
Well, early on in my career when I was at Cardinal Farley, it was a military Academy, so it was an easy
job to get a job at the boy scout camp as their range director. And there I got my first taste of teaching
and I would say all through those high school years and into my college years, I really discovered my love
for teaching.
Gus Nolan (
00:05:44
):
Yeah, I have it here. You know, you're really one of the, in my view, outstanding educaters in the Hudson
Valley because you have it on several levels. I mean you have it off campus, you have it, summer
programs, you have it here at Marist. I was trying to get a background on how'd you could do all those
things?
John DeGilio (
00:06:04
):
Yeah. I was involved in a lot of summer programs. Actually. I came to Marist with Cecil Denny when the
first computer was installed. The first large scale computer was installed. I came with Harry Williams
who's still here. Cecil Denny and the people that started that first computer. One of the things that
happened to me while I was teaching in Poughkeepsie, I wanted to get an experience with computers
and Poughkeepsie at the time being IBM center I could as a teacher go to their lab, the computer lab
and learn computer programming. And so one of the courses I taught at the high school level was
computer programming. But all this was very early. This was middle sixties. I also met at the time, the
man who designed a computer language called APL. And it was decided when the computer came to


Marist that that would be a language that Marist would teach. The problem was there were very few
people who had enough understanding to teach it. And I'm trying to remember who the principal and
the math department at the time, his wife was superintendent of schools for religious schools.
Gus Nolan (
00:07:57
):
Kevin Carolyn
John DeGilio (
00:07:59
):
Kevin Carolyn, right. Yeah. Kevin. Carolyn was doing most of the day work and I got the chance to do
most of the night work. So I came up here in the evenings and taught in all of those days when Marist
had a facilities at what is now Odd Lots. What then it was Western printing. Yeah. When they opened at
Western printing. Yeah. I taught every semester in that building I taught APL and I did that for a great
number of years. I was very active in teaching APL here. And then when things changed and they
broadened the computer program, I taught them, but I was always actually, I left teaching Poughkeepsie
to teach in the education department at Vassar. And during that time, Vassar had a connection with
Marist for students who were pursuing elementary education. They took many of their courses at
Vassar. So I had that connection working. Yes. Even with Liz, your wife Liz Nolan, who was instrumental
in the program here. So I made a lot of connections plus, excuse me. Plus I did a number of summer
programs for students in learning computers. So we use the ground floor of Donnelley. I had a couple of
classes in those days right off the computer room and taught I would say some four or five years. I
taught programs there. But all this time the impetus was that I was doing publication for Vassar with
computers in education. Right. So this is where I was getting that kind of experience. And then I
published with ETS a number of things about how to use computers in the school environment. Right. So
but I got more and more involved in the education end to that until, m retired and then came up here
and taught for Andrew Malloy in the Science department.
Gus Nolan (
00:10:48
):
That's another area when they go into, that's science on the move. Were you involved in that program?
Science on the move?
John DeGilio (
00:10:57
):
Yeah, that was the actually for both of us. That was our way to bow out. Both of us retired right after
that.
Gus Nolan (
00:11:06
):
I see.
John DeGilio (
00:11:08
):
But that was a $2 million program.
Gus Nolan (
00:11:10
):
Yeah. And what was the function of that? You were supposed to help other schools?
John DeGilio (
00:11:14
):


Well, the way that program was set up, teachers were given the opportunity to use equipment that
most school districts could not afford, but they kept it in a central location and moved it from, from
school to school. And it was basically run out of Marist with two trucks that carry the equipment from
school to school. My part of the problem was to keep the teachers connected by email in those days
email was a lot more primitive than it is today. And it was, for the most part, first, most of them was
their first chance to do some kind of computer activities thatgave him a, an understanding of what was
involved in computer programming and email and all of those issues, which made their appearance in
curricula in a secondary level.
Gus Nolan (
00:12:25
):
What was the time span for that program?
John DeGilio (
00:12:28
):
It was funded for two years, two years, two years, two years.
Gus Nolan (
00:12:32
):
How many people were involved?
John DeGilio (
00:12:34
):
Well, there were, there were six counties involved. There were Dutchess, on this side, Columbia,
Dutchess on the other side were Putnam, oh Putnam, Dutchess, three on this side, and three on the
other side. Three counties on the other end of them. All of the schools have representatives.
Gus Nolan (
00:13:05
):
Oh, I see. Okay.
John DeGilio (
00:13:07
):
And what this was, was basically it was an outreach where we trained teachers to use special
equipment, the specialized equipment, which allowed them, for instance, to do a lab many times over
where without the equipment, they would only do it once. They would only, for instance, determined
the pH of a particular reaction with the equipment that they got from us here at Marist. They, in a given
lab period, they could test many, many more cases than they could without the equipment.
Gus Nolan (
00:13:56
):
Yeah. How many such programs across the country do you think, were there? We weren't a solo
operation there must have been...
John DeGilio (
00:14:03
):
No, there were about a dozen other that were basically set up the way ours was. Set up so that a college
was the center and, and let i work with the surrounding counties .
Gus Nolan (
00:14:19
):
You'd explained that very nice, because I knew about it and I worked with, I didn't work with them, but I
traveled with Molloy on a cruise or two and he had to keep contacting on what was going on and who
was driving and so it was all right. Let's switch gears a little bit. But still an education program. Tell me


about LCS and how did that begin? What's the program about and where did it go from and how does it
work?
John DeGilio (
00:14:52
):
One of the actually a couple got as an inheritance a sum of money and told to do something educational
with it and they took it to Marist and talked to, I believe they talked to Dennis to set up a program for
seniors, senior learners. And that program "Center for Lifetime Study" is now about 18- 20 years old that
has the connections with the colleges, the industries of the area, which provides instruction for seniors.
And it's based on the fall semester of eight weeks and a spring semester of eight weeks. And during
those eight weeks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, there is a full range of courses usually about eight to
10 courses each of the days on specific topics.
Gus Nolan (
00:16:07
):
How is that curriculum developed? How do you go about saying,
John DeGilio (
00:16:12
):
Well it was once the program was started, they developed four committees. One was the science, all of
the people interested in putting out science courses. Another group did social sciences, another did
community activities and things of that nature. And the fourth were things like bridged teaching you
how to play bridge and things of that nature.
Gus Nolan (
00:16:45
):
Where does music come in? Where does the Opera come in with Jerry White if have memory?
John DeGilio (
00:16:49
):
Yeah, well during the art and there's an arts committee and the arts committee puts up things on
museums that have current exhibits like the Cole and the Hudson River School painters and all of that.
The art also does the music with, opera. They have a programmer and generally they, there is associated
with this, a trip to an opera, let's say to New York or even for plays during the But it has, it has taken the
cream of the retired faculties from Marist, Vassar, even New Paltz to do, to put the program together.
And I was fortunate enough to be involved, especially with my in increased interest in curriculum
development to put one together about generally the Hudson River and the Hudson River communities.
And so I've been doing that for the last eight years and has been relatively successful.
Gus Nolan (
00:18:11
):
Yes. I talk about his success. Apparently it is a very difficult program to get into because,
John DeGilio (
00:18:18
):
Well, there's a 600, about 600 membership and the waiting list is about 600. And it's.
Gus Nolan (
00:18:27
):
Can anyone apply for it, to get in?
John DeGilio (
00:18:31
):


Yeah, you can apply online on the Marist site has a page for the center for lifetime study which you can
submit your name and your interest in joining the center for lifetime. And then you're on the list.
Gus Nolan (
00:18:52
):
Do you have to have a particular background? Do you have to have a high school diploma?
John DeGilio (
00:18:56
):
No. No. There are no, I mean, there were many foreign nationals who are part of the program. It, there's
very few restrictions for membership and that and it has taken the opportunity, Marist has been very
generous. It offers a, an office where they could do all of the administration. It has a very small budget,
but they have access to the Marist mainframe for putting up all kinds of information. It's in general
Marist has been the way it's
Gus Nolan (
00:19:53
):
Is it really funded by Marist or?
John DeGilio (
00:19:55
):
Yeah, largely, but it's because, because our offices are here on campus and for instance, there's paper,
there's manning the office with respect to getting out emails to various people and all of the office
things that office do to make a program like this work. But, it's been a very rewarding for the community
and it has offered, lots of opportunities for people to discover interest areas in their retirement that
they couldn't pursue when they were in a work world.
Gus Nolan (
00:20:46
):
Yeah. There was some time, at least difficulty while, let me put it this way. Because of its success, it
needed more and more space and eventually they had both for parking and for classroom and they
wound up now at the Morse estate.
John DeGilio (
00:21:02
):
Yeah. They're in Locust Grove
Gus Nolan (
00:21:04
):
Locust Grove, right. Do you anticipate further development or do you think that.
John DeGilio (
00:21:11
):
There is quite a bit of discussion about where do we go from here with that program? There are some
members who feel we should spin off another addition and use two other days of the week, Tuesdays
and Wednesdays. There's a another faction that said, let's just hold onto what we got and see what the
future brings. But it is a dynamic organization in that that it's only, it's only been, I mean each president
serves for two years. So they really haven't had a long history of administrative action. So it's probably
gonna take a couple of more years to define what direction would be best to go.
Gus Nolan (
00:22:11
):
There's a certain vitality to the program. It's probably because of the interest of the teachers who bring
that into the classroom and the students who want to learn.


John DeGilio (
00:22:22
):
Yeah. Well basically it works like this. There is a, each standing committee that tries during some portion
of the year to collect the ideas from the membership of what it is they want to develop. And then it's
parceled out to various interests and then to build a program with that. Many of them have many of the
programs involved in understanding geopolitical conditions, et cetera. There are a number of Marist
faculty who are involved. There were a number of Vassar faculty involved to make this program
work.And there are, there are some people, Marist people who have been doing courses there for years
and have outstanding results. We lost Jerry White who was Marist faculty who retired to CLS and did an
outstanding job with his program. And there were, there are still on Peter O'Keefe. Many people would
go to CLS if Peter O'Keefe decided to do a course on the bloody telephone directory. Oh yes, they would
take Peter O'Keefe
Gus Nolan (
00:23:59
):
And Lou Zucerrello, there would be a competition for that.
John DeGilio (
00:24:02
):
Right. They are known quality, high quality, very successful presenters and people flock to their courses.
Gus Nolan (
00:24:14
):
Okay, let's change the pace a little bit and talk about, well, your views about the development of things.
And one of the is students, the student life and how they learn. And I heard discussion some saying here
in this kind of conference that yes, many of the students coming to Marist, they have higher grades but
not as bright or as well educated as some of our former students and others say, oh, not quite. I mean,
the students are coming, it's just that students learn differently. Now, do you comment on that? Do
students learn differently?
John DeGilio (
00:24:59
):
My experience with teaching at Marist was that there was an entire range of student interests and
abilities. One of the things that I was always impressed was the programs here at Marist that got
students involved in, whether it was community work or here at the college work or places where they
were capable and encouraged to use many of the ideas that were being developed in course. I mean, I
can speak as a parent, my son who graduated from Marist, I think his chief advantage was that he got
every opportunity as he was learning every opportunity to apply that in the work that he did on campus.
Soit was true then. I think there's, one of the things I can see in Marist as even as I was leaving was the
diversity of the faculty and less interest in solid core courses. My recollection was that that the core of
courses that made for an education of a Marist graduate was excellent and had excellent diversity and
comprehensive. I'm not sure that I could state that about what looks like the current level of students at
Marist but I do know that they still keep that, that commitment.
Gus Nolan (
00:27:00
):
Yes. Yeah. I think you've touched something very important and that is that the fundamental core has
changed. We used to require two classes in philosophy ,two in history, two in English and I think there's
a, a more diversity now a selection.
John DeGilio (
00:27:16
):


I think so.

Gus Nolan (
00:27:17
):
And as you say, some then leave without a better understanding and history or ability to read different
kinds of literature or whatever. But on the subject now also the method of teaching, you could not teach
today. I don't believe with the way you taught 30 years ago. Go in with a piece of chalk and just stay at
the Blackboard. I mean there's not to be more involvement.
John DeGilio (
00:27:46
):
Well, yeah, I think a lot more teacher in one on one involvement with students has altered the way in
which teachers expect students to learn. Plus I think the computer is made of profound impact on the
way in which teachers engage their students in learning. One of the things that I've always appreciated
at Marist was the fact that if you couldn't reach a student one way you could use another way to get to
them. And whether it was a matter of getting to learn on a computer or getting to learn out of books.
You know, there were all different Mecca methods options that were open to you at Vassar and you
were encouraged to use all of the range of methods. There were such an, there was such a good
collection, like a videotapes here at Marist that you could suggest a person take a look at if he was
having some particular difficulties or there were a number of those options that you could email you
suggest places websites that they could visit. And worked very well, I taught my final years, I taught in
the environmental science department and in my final years, I, it was the course that was replacing the
chemistry that was failing a lot of the non-majors, but of course in environmental science was a perfect
course to answer their needs. So instead of them making them write up a term paper, I offered them an
assignment to write to their Congressman about an environmental issue. Now, what they had to do, I
gave them a sheet, which told them to earn an A, you need to have this in it to get a B, it only needs this
in it to get the C grade, all you have to do is... And I laid it out for them. Yeah. Needless to say, most of
them opted for the A, but it forced them to make contact with somebody at a government level about
something they could support or refute. It got them in a condition where they were easy with doing a
program like this or doing something like this. So they thought that they, it was not a brand new idea
when they left college.
Gus Nolan (
00:30:46
):
Did they have an opportunity to share that with their students? In other words, that we stay with class
report?
John DeGilio (
00:30:51
):
Well, I did three things. One thing I did was put most of them online so they could see each other’s. I see
the content of each other’s especially the ones that were outstanding. I did get them to share, it took
some time in class for them to discuss how to do this. And I also had one other thing rather than have
them turn in some static paper. I asked them all to complete a website. They didn't have to learn the
computer part. They only had they just had to put the text in. The arguments in the content in, and then
I got from the computer department, a list of, of accounts that would be used only in that one semester.
I think we up for a semester, then taken down. And during that semester they all had the opportunity of
examining each other's work. So it was like giving them a term paper, but they all shared. Yeah. So that


was an attempt to use Marist computer power to influence their learning capabilities. Right. And I
worked very well.

Gus Nolan (
00:32:27
):
I'd also, I think touched on a certain amount of creativity of doing this rather than just copying
something from one text and give it another paragraph.
John DeGilio (
00:32:37
):
Yes. And that was imminently easy to see from what most students did. So, I mean, it really showed it
was primitive, but it showed their own work. I mean, there was not, it was not flashy professional, but it
was the work of a concerted hand at trying to make a case for something and making it clearly. And it
was, I figured it was a good activity. Yeah.
Gus Nolan (
00:33:12
):
That reminds me, I just to go along with you and we have to be on the same wavelength and that, and
my organization communication, they had to write to a fortune 500 company and get a case and bring it
back and analyze it and say what was the problem and how was it solved? And
John DeGilio (
00:33:31
):
Yeah. That's what Marist was good at.
Gus Nolan (
00:33:35
):
Yeah. Okay. All right. Now again, looking into the crystal ball tell me what you see Marist to be in 10 or
20 years. Is it going to be here or do you think, is it in a growth curve, has it matured? What would you
guess?
John DeGilio (
00:33:55
):
Well, I have to, I have to confess to a concern. Although Maris disconnected itself from the Marist
brothers in those years, it never disconnected itself from the ethic of Maris brothers. And I see that little
by little being pecked at, that hope is of work and pray. Yeah. That was so imminently connected. I mean
I felt that there was a very moral value in the education a student got from Marist that you wouldn't get.
I was teaching at Vassar at the same time, so I had a chance to contrast and I always was impressed by
here at Marist, did one of the things that determined whether something went ahead or whether it
didn't go ahead was did it have redeeming value at the community moral level? And I thought that if we
could preserve that at Marist, if that was so intimately connected to Marist college, the future would be
very, very beautiful for Marist if we lose that by becoming too big or too decentralized or too interested
in that,
Gus Nolan (
00:35:40
):
In progress. Yeah. Well, it's, I tell you one of the problems is that the spirit of the Marist brothers is to
live hidden and unknown in the world and do good quietly. Marist College cannot do that now. It has to
be public. We used to have a wall around here keeping ourselves in. Now we have the wall down. We
want more people to come in, you know, and we want, we're expanding. We have a, we have a full


office of recruiting in California. We have more than 90 full time students here from California where
we're reaching out for more and more in diversity. But at the same time, what you speak of is how do
we maintain that ethic of do good quietly, you don't brag about it. You know,

John DeGilio (
00:36:36
):
Exactly. Yeah. That's, that's it.
Gus Nolan (
00:36:38
):
That's, that's the conundrum. Is it worth saying? I know, cause I've been there. Yeah.
John DeGilio (
00:36:49
):
Well, so far, of course, under Dennis Murray so far, all of that was protected. I mean he understood that,
where this college was coming from and he, most of the, no all of the things that he did, I thought,
reinforced those goals. And I think that's what made him so successful and so much a part of why so
many of us supported him. Because he was truly of the Marist stock.
Gus Nolan (
00:37:36
):
Yeah. Okay. That raises the question again, a historical one. What would you say was some of the
principle factors that led to the success of Marist? There's a couple of questions here. One of them is its
physical location, it's on the Hudson here, it's 70 miles from New York city, that's a mass population, you
know, that we can draw from, even though we're getting it from California, we are getting much more
from Long Island. Right. And again, more the other side of the Hudson, Massachusetts and Connecticut
and so on. So that's one part. The other, the Marist brothers had high schools and they had senior
classes in all of them, you know, and it was a kind of a pipeline for many too. We survived those bad
years when we weren't known to have that. So that's another one. And the other is, as you talk about it,
the certain character or spirit to this place, that seems to me that is rather unique when they still open
the door, they get out of your way. We saw it coming in here just now. You know, that young man
holding the door. Right. You know, for us older guys coming through, you know, I don't know that that's
so typical. You speak.
John DeGilio (
00:38:56
):
No, I think you're, I think in that context it's, it's true. I, I have, you know, the other part of this is the
amazing transformation that has taken place on the property itself. First of all, it now looks like one
campus before it had such different styles.
Gus Nolan (
00:39:25
):
It was a farm, you know, I mean farms have fields and barns and well,
John DeGilio (
00:39:29
):
Things were put up because they were needed and they weren't put up.
Gus Nolan (
00:39:33
):
For utility.


John DeGilio (
00:39:35
):
At the time with what was available. But now it has a consistency. It looks like a complete place that's,
yeah. Good. Yeah. And from the view down to the river, I think is transformational too. That's the,

Gus Nolan (
00:39:51
):
That was a you know, probably from attending a number of,
John DeGilio (
00:39:55
):
I was always impressed at how do you get work done looking out those windows at the beautiful color
across the river from the library. I mean, I'd be tempted in the library to lose my resolve to come in here
and work because it was so much. Right.
Gus Nolan (
00:40:11
):
You should say that because at one time I did have an office in the building that was here, Fontaine and I
had a Hudson view from my office and that was as a faculty member. When I got promoted later on to
be the chair, we actually moved it over to Lowell Thomas and now I had a view of Route 9 and I could
see trucks and ambulances galore. You see, there was a kind of a mismatch. The higher up you went,
John DeGilio (
00:40:37
):
Yeah, they should've gotten that from the other way.
Gus Nolan (
00:40:39
):
Yeah. Again, pertaining to the question here and what you might see, students have changed their own
lifestyle in their attempt to be so concerned with that instrument they carry around with themselves,
whether it's an iPhone or a tablet or whatever, and they talk to it and they you know, communicate with
it. And so.
John DeGilio (
00:41:04
):
I'm guilty of that.
Gus Nolan (
00:41:06
):
But you have old habits and still converse readily with anyone. I'm just wondering about what might be
done to make up for that, to compensate for this no need for communicating and getting on and
knowing one another. I don't know. It's in the age and I said always sooner or later they'll develop
something to help that.
John DeGilio (
00:41:31
):
Yeah. I think though Gus, I think the stories that out on I mean we have to wait a little longer to see this
impact. But I mean there are, there are obvious abuses and then there are obvious ways of using this to
enhance, your life's experience. You know, I think what I was most interested in doing while I was
teaching at Marist was converting people, converting students to vet better versions of themselves. That
the task of the teacher is not to make the student over in his image or any other image, but give them a
chance to fully actualize their own self image and self esteem. I know for a fact that for instance, at one


time Marist had a program called the Science of Man and I thought that program was probably the most
undersold program because it did exactly that. What it did was take the people who were involved and
made them better versions of themselves and it was truly uplifting to see what they were able to
accomplish with, with college kids in getting them to become more self-actualized, become more aware
of their own abilities and skills and focus on the things which would improve them as they proceeded
through life, to give them the kind of ammunition to continue beyond your graduate graduation from
Marist continue to grow. And that's what made Marist different from most other institutions I ever saw.
And that was done everywhere. I enjoyed mostly I was lucky when I, well my last years here I was
teaching two classes in the morning and two classes in the afternoon, but it gave me a chance to get the
mass and the number of people, faculty people who made it to that mass was impressive and the visions
that were presented by many of those people the vision that they had were pretty consistent with my
vision of making kids better images of themselves, better selfactualizing. And I found that very uplifting
and for the most part, those were the men who were the people who constructed physically this place. I
mean, I was totally amazed at how Richard LaPietra, for instance, worked with kids. He was, he, I'm sure
he did not understand all of the little skillful things he was using and working with kids that gave him an
advantage. But he was a, he was a joy to watch. Yeah.
Gus Nolan (
00:45:27
):
You're not telling me something, I don't know.
John DeGilio (
00:45:28
):
Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure.
Gus Nolan (
00:45:31
):
Alright. This is all been very positive, but speak a few minutes if you can or make it up if necessary. But
what would be one of your disappointments at Marist, what is something that didn't happen or that
should have happened?
John DeGilio (
00:45:47
):
I don't I try not to focus on that, you know,
Gus Nolan (
00:45:50
):
I know, but it's reality.
John DeGilio (
00:45:51
):
I think Marist on one even to today takes advantage of their part time staff. And I think they don't
recognize the contribution that many of the part time staff makes to the institution. I mean, I'm even
surprised by the fact that most of them, despite the compensation, give everything they have to doing
the work of Marist college. So, but that's one, one small area and, and that's no indictment of Marist
because Vassar does it, Bard does it everybody does it.
Gus Nolan (
00:46:39
):
Well of course the Genesis of that is part of it. It was not, it grew out of the need to get some
professional people after their regular work. So getting an IBMer after his work to come and share some
of his experience to getting a Jim Fahey to come on and talk about public relations from the real world,


but then that I think you are absolutely had to become abused. The number of part time people we
depend on to run the institution are not fully rewarded for their efforts


John DeGilio (
00:47:18
):
No, that was always that was the sting that you got. That, but it wouldn't have, I don't any more than it
does now. It would never prevent anybody from doing the work that they were contracted to do as
Marist.
Gus Nolan (
00:47:41
):
Okay. What do you think the other side of that coin, what is one of your happiest or biggest
achievements that you feel? You know, "I was able to do this here" like..
John DeGilio (
00:47:58
):
Well, I think one of my fondest achievements was the impact that many of the things that I got started
in that environmental science program were continued after I left. And as far as I can still see, still
contains same same kind of efforts that were a part of that, you know, it was always my dream that
Marist would be the school that would be turning out youngsters who would end up helping the rest of
us understand our responsibilities with respect to our environment. The program was there, the kids
were there and I thought they were well on their way doing that when I left. And I would count that as, I
mean if, I have to justify anything I will to St. Peter of my time at Marist, I would point to that as my
fondest moment, my highest level of satisfaction of getting kids in that program to see the potential that
they could have and impacting other lives. And I can see it now in many of those kids that graduated and
are around here in our community.
Gus Nolan (
00:49:33
):
Very good. Yeah. I think you probably know a good number of the teachers in the Hudson Valley are
graduates of Marist, good, the medical profession has taken some know. So a question though comes in
the board now and that is, I've got to put it this way, is Marist worth the education, worth the expense?
In terms of the expense attached to the involvement of money, time, effort. Many people are saying you
don't have to go to college anymore. And the others are saying, Oh, you better go to college. You know,
John DeGilio (
00:50:10
):
I don't know if I can speak to this for today, but I watched my son and I saw him get one of the best well-
rounded educations. My son minored in computer, partly because I talked him out of it. I said, learn to
write and Marist can teach you to write. Matter of fact, it was your communications program. He can
write well and if you could write well, that shows your thinking. Right. And that has given him, I think a
good leg up on doing the kind of work he does now for IBM. And a lot of that is due to the quality of the
general education Marist provided. And I don't think for the price it's overpriced.
Gus Nolan (
00:51:15
):
Okay. However, it's really become more upper middle class now. It's $50,000 to come here as a
freshmen.


John DeGilio (
00:51:26
):
Yeah, that's a problem.

Gus Nolan (
00:51:27
):
And that's a problem because what we're losing then or those who can't afford it which a more middle
class.
John DeGilio (
00:51:36
):
That's a problem.
Gus Nolan (
00:51:37
):
And I think that yeah
John DeGilio (
00:51:43
):
I tell you what, my answer, our answer was. When I stopped teaching and my nest was empty, even
before they were old enough to know better, we formed a 529 account for each of our grandchildren.
And that meant that they didn't get any presents from us that weren't money in their 529. They had
more than enough physical stuff from their parents, but we gave them, our intention was to give them
one year on us. And so far it's we've got two more to go. But so far we've done that one year of college
at least on the grandparents.
Gus Nolan (
00:52:35
):
What part will the campus play in the future? Will computer take away the joy of coming to campus?
John DeGilio (
00:52:46
):
Nothing will take the joy away from that, I think the Marist campus and indirect, first of all, I think there
were many things in the design of the changes that occurred over the last number of years that have
conspired to get Marist kids to work together. I mean, just in the band alone in the music program
alone, how much that has expanded over the years and got kids to do pretty talented, they're pretty
talented work and that's a very energetic program. They got lots of things going. If you see what they're
doing in the radio or online with a Facebook and other venues, Marist kids work well together, and I
think they've, they've got the right attitudes with respect to running the dorms and keeping the keeping
the place healthy. And, you know, college colleges these days are facing lots of problems, which we
never ever thought about when we had a class full of students, it was relatively rare that there would be
somebody in there that was high on drugs or had serious hangover or something that detracted from
their education.
Gus Nolan (
00:54:36
):
Okay. But that didn't mean they didn't have Friday nights not to get the,
John DeGilio (
00:54:40
):
Well, it might have, it might have. Yeah.


Gus Nolan (
00:54:43
):
What you're saying is verified. If you'll go out the Northern entrance, there's three new dormitory
buildings going up, you know one of them is being occupied for the first time. And the question, why did
we do this? You see? And I interviewed the secretary of the president and she pointed out that there
was a time and we were here as young teachers when students wanted to live off campus. You see. But
now just a major thrust, they all want to be on campus. You see. And actually with all these dormitories,
there's no new increase in the number of students were taken. We just housing them better and they
want to be on campus, they want to be in community, you know, and I think it verifies what you were
saying that.
John DeGilio (
00:55:33
):
Well, I think plus the community is less tolerant of aberrant behavior by students. And that it really
encourages them being on campus. We have much better able to make a situation with less.
Gus Nolan (
00:55:57
):
It's protective, you know, there are more girls here then guys. And I think it's, it's perceived as being a
safe place. Right. You know, for a young girls account. Last question. We have a new president if you had
it.
John DeGilio (
00:56:11
):
Yes, my deepest sympathy.
Gus Nolan (
00:56:14
):
Ah, well maybe that's the message. I was gonna say, have you had a chance to have lunch with him?
Were a conference with him? What would be a central message you'd want to say to to David Yellin?
John DeGilio (
00:56:28
):
Well, one of the things that have really impressed me about Dennis was a number of times he would
show up places and most people didn't know he was the president of the college, whether it was getting
kids into their rooms at freshman year, but he was personally engaged at the student level. If he, if this
new president misses that, I think he's gonna miss one of the important things that that made Dennis
Murray such a success. He had his, he was everywhere. He had his finger on the pulse of this college
from the day he started. I remember when I started doing computers, summer programs, he would
show up and he would walk around the room. Nobody knew he was the president of the college. He'd
be talking to kids and he would be seeing what they were doing, wanting to know what was going on.
But that was the kind of a guy he was. He never considered himself to be above anybody. And he was
very congenial to kids and they were congenial back and he knew if anything, this college president can't
lose that connection. I think that it makes them good.
Gus Nolan (
00:58:08
):
All right. I really have finished everything I wanted to ask you. And I was just wondering if there's
something I didn't ask you or you want to bring up or you that you like to say in conclusion.
John DeGilio (
00:58:22
):


Well, the one thing I really want to say is how open Marist was to an oddball like me. All my life, I had
been finding the cracks and slipping in the cracks. I went one, John McDonald was chairman of the
computer department. John came from industry and he understood what he needed was somebody
who was going to do a particular job and do it well. I didn't have the college credentials. I only had my
experience as the, and he hired me to teach APL and he gave me lots of latitude to do the program the
way I wanted to do the program. Then when he left and I got more involved in Vassar things and left for
a while. When I came back I was given opportunities to teach in the computer science department for
non-majors. So I did that for a number of years and when I left from that, Andy Malloy, when he found
out I was leaving Vassar, retiring from Vassar, he twisted my arm to come back to work in the
environmental science and all of the time we were doing projects that involved outreaches from Marist
for kids, for schools, for school districts. And I had nobody looked down on me because I didn't fit into
the pecking order of, I didn't have my PhD, I didn't have my credentials or the articles I published were
in minor magazines rather than major journals. That is such a problem in other places, but here at
Marist, if you had the skills, you were given the opportunity. For me that meant I had a wonderful
opportunity to teach here, to make good friends here and to be a part of what I consider one of the
most important parts of my life. Watch this college grow from a small institution to something that
commands world attention now.
Gus Nolan (
01:01:18
):
Okay. Just let me end with this, I really didn't know you too well for a number of years. But, when
Richard LaPietra and myself put out a letter creating the retired faculty, you were one of the first
persons you came to my church actually and said you got the letter and you thought it was a great idea.
And I want to thank you for you participation from day one to this day and all that you have done to
keep this group together along with the other groups that you keep together. And, and we're so grateful
for that.
John DeGilio (
01:01:57
):
Well, I really am impressed because that retired faculty group is family. They're family, to each other and
their concern for each other is as strong as any family member would have. And it's very heartening to
know that all of those people care for each other. And it's a wonderful experience. Now I got Barbara to
do all of the names, write the names under the pictures, it'll be even better. And I look forward to many
more years. As long as you stay healthy and.
Gus Nolan (
01:02:44
):
As long as we both stay healthy and continue to do it. We're getting on in years but we won't count
those now. Okay. Thank you very much.