Vincent Begley Oral History Transcript
Media
Part of Vincent Begley Oral History
content
Interview with: VINCENT BEGLEY
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Lily Jandrisevits
For the Marist College Archives and Special Collections
Transcript: Vincent Begley
Interviewee: Vincent Begley
Interviewer: Gus Nolan
Interview Date: 8 April 2019
Location: James A. Cannavino Library
Topic: Marist College History
Subject Headings:
Begley, Vincent
Marist College Alumni
Marist College Faculty
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)--Social Aspects
Summary: Vincent Begley talks about his experience attending Marist College in the early days
of the school. He reflects on his time as an English major, including his semester abroad studying
at Oxford University. He discusses the value of a Marist education in his eyes, and what brought
him back as an adjunct professor. He also describes his wishes for the future of Marist as an
innovator of higher education.
Gus Nolan (
00:12
):
We can start now. Good. Thank you. Again, today is Monday the 8th of April. We have a chance
to interview one of the first graduates of Marist from the year 1970, Vincent Begley. Good
morning, Vincent.
Vincent Begley (
00:27
):
Good morning, Gus.
GN (
00:28
):
Vincent, I'd like you if you could give me a short overview of your early life, where were you
born, early education, where the family lived. And I'll interrupt during that asking some
questions as you go. Okay.
VB (
00:44
):
I was born in Manhattan on July 11th, 1948. My-- I was then placed in the founding home across
town in July of '48. I was adopted in February of 1949 by a couple from Brooklyn. So, I left
Manhattan, then went over to Brooklyn, where I spent my first five years until my adoptive
parents moved to Long Island, where I began my education in the public school system in
Seaford at Long Island. By the time I was in eighth grade, I had decided I wanted something a
little different. I wanted to break a mold that my sister and two cousins who had gone to the
school had followed. So, I was accepted at St. Agnes Cathedral High School in Rockville Center,
taught by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, and they provided a wonderful foundation for
learning. Were very encouraging, very open, just brought out the best in the student. I learned
about writing. It turns out that ironically my birth father, who was a Catholic priest of the
2
Vincent Begley
archdiocese, was not only a writer, he was an English teacher at Archbishop Stepinac High
School. One of the founding faculty was a speech writer for Cardinal Spellman at the time,
directed plays. And those were all the roots that I had in me. So, when I was in high school, they
were formulated. I got involved with journalism, started writing. I was an editor for the
newspaper, and I was encouraged. I knew that writing was where I wanted to go.
GN (
02:29
):
Outside writing, were you involved in any sports or any other activities, choir, drama, stage
[laugh].
VB (
02:35
):
I would've loved to have been more involved in sports, but it was not my calling. I was on the
newspaper, the yearbook staff. I played in the band for four years. I was involved in a number of
volunteer organizations. So, I really immersed myself in everything that the high school had to
offer. And found out by the time I was a senior; it had been a wonderful four year journey.
GN (
03:02
):
How about the summers? Any work, experience, travel, small jobs?
VB (
03:08
):
I had begun working as a little kid, shoveling driveways, raking leaves, cutting lawns, because
my father was of the type that didn't matter how young you were, you should be earning
something. So, I began earning and I learned how to save when I was old enough to get a
traditional kind of job. I was fourteen and a half at the time, and I went to work at Jones Beach as
a bus boy. Spent two summers there, earning money to put away for college. My senior year of
3
Vincent Begley
high school, I got a job working for the post office, which was a lot more money. And so, I tried
to have saved money that I could use when I went to college.
GN (
03:52
):
What did you do in the post office?
VB (
03:54
):
I was a-- worked in the sectional center. It's a huge sectional center and spent eight hours a day
on a conveyor belt sorting mail.
GN (
04:03
):
Oh, very good. Alright, next phase. Marist College. Why did you choose Marist?
VB (
04:10
):
I was up in the air about where to go. I had really wanted to go to a school where I could take
journalism. I wanted to go to Syracuse, the Medill School of Journalism, and those are the two.
And then my father said, get real. So, I had to lower my economic sites. I was told at the
admissions counselor, admissions rep from Marist was going to be up in the guidance office.
When I was a senior, I went up and talked to Mr. Thomas Wade. He was the admissions director
at the time. And we got to talking and, although Manhattan College and St. John Fisher were two
colleges that I thought about, Tom Wade said the magic word. He said, what if we give you
some money?
GN (
04:58
):
I see.
4
Vincent Begley
VB (
04:59
):
And I said, that not only sounds good for me, I'm sure that'll sound good for my father. So, he
offered me a nice financial scholarship and work study and what other scholarships and money I
had. So, I went for a visit and fell in love with it on site.
GN (
05:18
):
Okay, describe Marist when you came here, what was the scene like? Were the dormitories up?
Did we have wall field?
VB (
05:26
):
When I went to come and visit the college before deciding to come here, the Marist brothers
were all on retreat. So, it was very silent campus. I couldn't talk to anybody. Champagnat had
just been completed. This was end of '65, beginning of '66. So Champagnat had just been open.
There was only Leo and Sheahan. Donnelley was built and opening, but it was a very small
campus. But to me it was a big campus, it had everything I wanted, everything that I could
possibly think about. So, my decision was made and I was never doubted making that decision.
GN (
06:13
):
And when you came here, you thought all the way through that you'd like to do something in
writing journalism or something in that line?
VB (
06:19
):
I did because I had written and published some newspaper articles before coming to Marist. I
immediately joined the newspaper staff. One of my jobs was at the library and also with
admissions this time under Mr. David Flynn. I enjoyed meeting new prospective students. I
5
Vincent Begley
enjoyed taking them around and talking to them. So, I married that with my writing and
continued. My only regret, if you could say it, was that I was an English major and I probably
shouldn't have been an English major, admittedly, fifty years later, I could say that I was not
enamored with 17th century English Poetry [laugh] or Shakespeare. I was having a father who
had been a playwright and directed plays, I gravitated towards theater. And I got involved in
theater at Marist and worked on the newspaper. And that was my calling. The fact that Marist
didn't have the program that I wanted was really negligent.
GN (
07:24
):
There was no track in journalism.
VB (
07:25
):
There was no track in journalism, no track in creative writing. But I once took a walk around
campus as a sophomore with then brother Linus Foy. And he told me that there is only a slight
difference between Marist and Harvard, and that is what you put into it as a student. And I took
those words to heart and I realized, you know, borrowing the old Kennedy phrase, it's, you know,
not what your college can do for you, but what you can do for your college. And I realized by
getting fully involved at Marist, in turn, Marist was paying me back because the opportunities
were here. There were no end to the opportunities. Nobody ever said, we've never done that
before. You can't do it.
GN (
08:14
):
Right. How about the music? Did you stay with the band or did you do anything there?
VB (
08:19
):
6
Vincent Begley
I would have continued because I had been playing for eight years, but Marist had no
opportunity. There was nowhere to go with it. So unfortunately, I had to end my music career.
GN (
08:32
):
Other aspects of Marist at that time, making friends, you seem to have a rather social ability to be
able to make new friends, is that a factor?
VB (
08:45
):
I think it was a factor of my personality and Marist, when I went to high school, I was the only--
I didn't know anybody when I started high school. So, I had to learn how to step up to the plate
and meet people and discover who I was. Marist gave me that same opportunity again. I started--
I was the only one from my high school who came to Marist. So, I wasn't labeled. I had no
identity. I could recreate my identity. I met a number of students. I was open to listening to
different mindsets, enjoyed the fact that the faculty were so willing to talk. Brother Cyprian
Rowe was my freshman English teacher, and he was amazing. Amazing man. Dr. Donahue, he
was brother Donohue then, opened my mind to thinking with philosophy. Dr. Lou Zuccarello, I
was so immersed with people who wanted you to think, and the students that I met in all the
activities, it was like being in a candy store.
GN (
09:52
):
How about other activities? Did you work at any time while you were while in college and then
during the summer?
VB (
09:58
):
7
Vincent Begley
I continued working at Marist in the admissions office during the year. In the summer, I was a
parlor car attendant on Long Island Railroad, which meant that the trains that went from Jamaica,
Queens out to the Hamptons. I had a car, and my job was to serve those twenty or twenty-five
people. Again, it was a-- every position I had seemed to be dealing with people. So, if you
wanted to help increase your tips, you had to learn how to be friendly.
GN (
10:30
):
One question I think you mentioned earlier is that you were in the abroad program. Want to say a
few words about your experience in London [laugh].
VB (
10:40
):
Well, brother Joe Bell, as we called him, brother Joseph Belanger, when Sheahan Hall was
started my sophomore year, it was called the humanities house. And it was intended for people
who were thinking of going abroad. It was sort of like a--.
GN (
10:56
):
A league club.
VB (
10:57
):
It was sort of like an incubator for-- and it also was the place where people from abroad came
back. So, he was encouraging me and encouraging me. And an opening came to start a program
at Oxford, at Manchester College in Oxford University. He told me, you'll be the first student to
go there, which was not new for me. I didn't mind starting fresh. They didn't know anything
about the program, though. That's the only drawback. They did not know that-- when I arrived at
Oxford, having gone traditional two years at an American college, when I arrived at Oxford, they
8
Vincent Begley
asked me, they said what would you like to learn this year? I said, well, what courses do I have
to take? They said we don't give courses. I said, do you have a catalog? We don't have a catalog.
I said, then what do we do? They said, you create a program that you want and you will have
tutors. And I said, I haven't even started, and they already need me to have a tutor. But they said,
no. Here a tutor is somebody you sit down with one-on-one for an hour and a half each week,
and you read your essays to your tutor, and they evaluate it, and they challenge you to support
what you said. And the next essay, you came better prepared and you learn more. So, the
educational opportunity was amazing at Oxford to be-- they had a full lecture program and you
could go to any lecture you wanted to go to. I went to lectures by Dame Helen Gardiner, who
was T.S. Eliot's friend and official biographer a man by the name of Dr. Lord Cecil.
GN (
12:35
):
Are you evaluated by word? How-- or are you evaluated at all?
VB (
12:39
):
There was no evaluation. Oxford does not have a grading system. They don't give tests. They
don't give grades, which became a challenge when I came back to Marist, because I was the first
student to go to a program that was like this. Had they known beforehand, they probably-- we
would've done something differently. So, we had to craft together a way to give me credits for
what I had learned.
GN (
13:05
):
Did you get twelve credits or fifteen?
VB (
13:07
):
9
Vincent Begley
I got fifteen credits. Not the GPA that I had left with, but looking back, I would not have
changed it for the world.
GN (
13:16
):
Wonderful. I'll move on. After graduation what did you do? What's the first thing you did? The
first job, maybe.
VB (
13:25
):
I graduated in 1970. That was the year of the Kent State shooting. That's when colleges closed
their doors. And colleges had been in chaos for the two or three years prior to that, because of the
Vietnam War. It was faculty against faculty, student against student. It was very tough time. So, I
was asked by the dean at the time of students who's now Tom Wade and brother Cox at the time,
would I stay on work in the dorms and work with-- as a liaison with students and faculty,
because I had earned the respect of the faculty. I had been a good student involvement person.
So, for two years I worked in residence admissions and with the Dean of Students. So, it was an
opportunity to figure out-- it was sort of my graduate school without credit.
GN (
14:21
):
When did you eventually go to graduate school?
VB (
14:23
):
I believe it or not, at that time, there was only one flavor. If you were an English major, you
became an English-- went to graduate school. And it meant, I, at that time, I had to know either
French or German to be able to read it. And English was difficult for me. Languages were not
10
Vincent Begley
my skill. So, I realized I was not going to cut it as an academic. So, I did not go to graduate
school. Fast forward, forty years later, I went and did my master's in education.
GN (
15:02
):
What did you do for that big part of life after you left Marist?
VB (
15:07
):
After I left Marist, because Marist had done such a great job in training me to think and not be
limited. And because I had done enough writing and research, I realized the traditional job at a
corporation was not my calling. So, I was challenged to think of different ways. I did a lot of
freelance writing for newspapers and magazines, but I earned my bread and butter as a shoe
salesman. And it was a challenge. I-- the summer of 1974, I married a Marist graduate who had
gone abroad. She had gone to Paris, and she had wanted to be a French teacher, but unfortunately
teaching was-- French teachers were in not in high demand.
GN (
15:59
):
Right. Yeah. One other aspect of Marist that you've come back now to do some teaching, how
did that happen?
VB (
16:09
):
I, you know, it's funny to be a student and then to work in the administration and take a long
break. I was working for Mount Saint Mary College. I was the director of marketing
communications, and a call came in from Marist that they were looking for an adjunct who might
be interested in teaching in the school of communications. And I said, I'm your man.
11
Vincent Begley
GN (
16:35
):
What year was this now?
VB (
16:36
):
This was now 2002. End of 2001. The spring of 2001.
GN (
16:43
):
Do you remember who the dean was?
VB (
16:45
):
To be honest, I don't, can't remember.
GN (
16:48
):
Okay. ( ) would that have--.
VB (
16:50
):
It might have been.
GN (
16:51
):
Yeah, alright. Different phase, and then on the same subject, Marist has changed dramatically
from your first days coming. What would you say is the driving force for that? Would you say
it's the Marist spirit, the president, the economic development of the country. Into what phase
would you put this different Marist that we have now? How did it happen?
VB (
17:21
):
12
Vincent Begley
I think the Marist brothers were forward thinking and risk takers. They were willing to take
calculated risks to go from one step to the next. When I started Marist, it was an all-male college.
It was mostly blue-collar, children of blue-collar workers. Marist saw that the future demanded
some changes. So, the decision to go co-ed was important. Another decision, and I played a part
in this because I, in fact started a panel discussion on the Bundy Act of getting aid as a college. I
was pushing that Marist was not going to have to lose anything if they declared themselves a
secular college. The Marist spirit was immersed in the college, it was here. So, I encouraged it,
and Marist did that step. And I think by doing that, it allowed them to reach a broad audience of
students by going co-ed by adding new majors, by their amazing building programs, by the very
fact that their graduates, myself excluded because I didn't light any fires in the corporate world,
but Marist earned a great reputation out in the workplace. So, I think Marist owes a great debt to
the Marist brothers, the Marist spirit primarily, I think, to Linus Foy, who was really a forward
thinker.
GN (
18:58
):
Okay. And with all of this, Marist is still in the same-- it's not Siena, it's not Vassar, it's not
Fordham, it's not Iona. What is this Marist spirit of which you spoke? How would you describe
that?
VB (
19:13
):
Well, let me correct you on that. I think it's Siena squared. I think Marist is a-- has such a high
reputation out there among high school students. I think the Marist spirit is embraced by anybody
who joins the faculty. I think it's an amazing, it's in the air, it's in the DNA, I think of anybody
who's part of Marist. I think they're committed to it. They do it with a passion. And I think that's
13
Vincent Begley
what's driven Marist. And I think that spirit-- talk to anybody who's graduated from Marist and,
you know--.
GN (
19:55
):
Well, you're kind of the embodiment of that. You have friends from Marist still now? Forty years
after you left here.
VB (
20:01
):
50 years almost, yes.
GN (
20:02
):
Do you feel that that same spirit is enacted in the recent graduates?
VB (
20:09
):
I think it might be, but I think the only trouble I see, and it's not just Marist, I think it's in the
nature of higher education. Higher education has now, new demands have been put on it to
students-- come get me a job, show me the path to a career. When I started, it was, show me a
path to become a learner, a thinker, and a driver. Now I think the students now, because of their
parents, expect to come here to take the right number of courses at the right time, do the right
internships to land a job in the business world.
GN (
20:55
):
Okay. The crystal ball, what do you see down the line for Marist? Talk about Marist as you
might envision it in then or fifteen years, years from now. Will it still be here?
VB (
21:09
):
14
Vincent Begley
I think it will be here, but I almost think I would like to see Marist start a Marist within Marist. I
guess having, I was just back in Oxford on a trip because I had to take a trip to Rome and I had a
chance to get up to England for a day. The Oxford mentality of learning for learning's sake, I
would like to see that embodied here. And to have students take a course or a program that is not
so grounded in the traditional three credits, three credits, three credits, give them a chance to
have tutorials, be in seminars, learn to think, and not be so directed on a career path. So, I'd like
to see Marist start a Marist within a Marist that would eventually spill out. Because even though
colleges like Marist have great technology, it’s still done the same way, textbook, syllabus, test,
assignments, grades that was going on twenty, thirty years before I even went to college. If one
thing I would like, I could just add, I would like Marist to be the first college that allows students
to take courses either for two credits, three credits, or four credits. You can take a course, one
student takes it for two credits. One, taking it for four. Student taking it for two knows that this is
what they have to do to get those two credits. The student taking it for three has to do this. The
student taking it for four does it for this. That way it puts more of a opportunity on the student. I
really want to invest my time in this course, so I'm going to do it for four credits. That other
course I'll take for two credits. I would like to take it, but I don't want to invest as much time in
it. And I think then you're allowing students to really create their education.
GN (
23:06
):
Very interesting. Okay. Related to that then, let's say, suppose you were invited to speak to the
board of trustees about a need that Marist has. Is this what you would say to them?
VB (
23:21
):
15
Vincent Begley
Yes. I would say be one of the first colleges that decides we need to rethink how higher
education is delivered rather than continue the tradition of 100, 200, 300, 400 level courses, three
credits, GPA. I think America is ready for that. And I think I'd like to see Marist take a step.
That's why I'm saying create a college within a college that you could investigate how is it
working, and then be able to expand it.
GN (
23:52
):
Yeah. I guess we would need a major grant though, because the mentality now of most students
is what you've been saying, go to this college so when you finish college, you would get a good
job. But if that didn't matter, you didn't have to pay off a student loan, and you were supported
for this learning, you'd be home free at the end of it. You'd be very smart, or at least you'd be
educated.
VB (
24:17
):
Right.
GN (
24:18
):
Yeah. You're supposed to be doing the talking, not me [laugh]. Okay, another question, is Marist
worth the investment? I say that because it costs $50,000 a year, now. It takes a lot of effort.
Marist is a place where you have to go to class. You just can't live in the dormitories because
then you soon will be dropped. You'll be low-- your grade average, it takes a commitment on
social--. You have to leave home for the most part. The campus is, most students come to live on
campus. And so, it's a whole new social world. So, it takes a lot of guts and donation, a
commitment to do this. At the end of it, you know, is it worth it?
16
Vincent Begley
VB (
25:11
):
I would say that the dollars and cents is questionable because when I came to Marist, it was
$1,400 a year, tuition, room and board. But even then, $1,400 was more than if you had gone to a
state school for $400. So, there has always been a-- you have always had to pay more for it. Do I
think sixty, fifty, $60,000 is worth it? I would say it is. If the students felt the ownership and
responsibility of it prior to getting-- graduating and being hit with loans. I think what happens
now is students are not aware of the cost because it's not real to them. They're of the debit card
generation where, you know, you just, things get paid for. Like the course I teach, I don't require
them to use a textbook. I teach from a textbook, but I provide them with ample reading material,
et cetera. I'm saving them about $135 because I'm not requiring tax, that doesn't impact them,
doesn't mean anything to them, because that $135 for the textbook isn't coming out of their
pocketbook.
GN (
26:24
):
It's not theirs
VB (
26:24
):
It's not theirs. So, I think as far as an investment in the future, they're going to owe a lot of
money and hopefully they'll be able to get jobs that they enjoy. But I almost wish that they had to
pay for college after they graduated. That instead of taking loans, sort of like the tuition they're
paying is covering the tuition for a student rather than build up debt and graduate with debt,
graduate with no debt, but have an obligation of paying the college back.
GN (
27:04
):
17
Vincent Begley
With a good job. You'll probably get-- if you have a good education, if you can read and write,
you probably will be wanted in any organization.
VB (
27:12
):
Well, that's what I tell my students. I said, the two skills that will separate you is if you have
good writing skills and good critical reading skills. I said, that'll separate you because most
people don't read and most people don't venture to write.
GN (
27:27
):
Would you put speech into that?
VB (
27:29
):
Yes. Speech, public speaking, yes. I think what helped me at Marist was as an admissions
counselor when I was a senior going around, I never knew when I went to a high school was I
going to be just talking to one or two students. Often times I would go in, there was a whole
auditorium of seniors. I had to think on my feet and be able to be articulate enough to them. So, I
think public speaking skills are essential.
GN (
27:54
):
One last big part of the question though. Your personal response. What was, if I could put it this
way, what was your biggest disappointment at Marist? Or was there any?
VB (
28:10
):
To be very honest, I, other than the snafu of my grades from Oxford back to Marist, I would say
I had no disappointments because, I was like this kid, I'll use the expression, a little kid is
18
Vincent Begley
brought into a room and its waist high in manure. And the kid goes into the room, and he jumps
in and he's slashing about throwing the manure all over. And he has a smile on his face. And they
said to him, what's going on? And he said, with all this manure, there has to be a pony in here
somewhere [laugh]. So that was my attitude, so I could have no disappointment. Marist, let you
look for that pony.
GN (
28:51
):
Okay. Well turn it around now. What was your biggest joy of Marist?
VB (
28:57
):
I think my biggest joy was feeling part of something. Meeting the woman who was my wife for
forty-five years at Marist. Having a son, we couldn't afford him undergraduate tuition. He came
and worked here as the director of intramural sports, and he did his masters here. So, I did
continue the family tradition in a small way. So, I think Marist was my-- the greatest gift is that
it's a place where I can come back to, and I've come back for seventeen years as an adjunct.
GN (
29:34
):
We're not paying you a lot of money for that. So--.
VB (
29:36
):
No, unfortunately, I was born without a money gene. I did not have this drive to make a lot of
money, hence the reason I'm still working. But it's just that Marist is a-- there's a spirit here that
you can still sense even fifty years after I graduated.
GN (
29:56
):
19
Vincent Begley
Wonderful. Now I've covered mine, is there anything more you'd like to add to this opportunity?
Because I have to tell you, I found this interview, it's most interesting. I never heard this
explanation about how Oxford works, you know, and I think that's a great insight and a good
idea that people might pick up, that we could have used that here. So, and you have permanent
friends from your early years at Marist as I witnessed today. I'm talking about what's his name
again [laugh].
VB (
30:32
):
Bryan Maloney.
GN (
30:32
):
Bryan Maloney.
VB (
30:33
):
I don't know, the only thing, I was very surprised to get your call to do this because I never felt
that I was on any radar important enough to talk to. My personality is, I don't need to be center
stage. But--.
GN (
30:57
):
It's a joy to have you let me simply say that. And with that, I'll let you look and see the
interviews that I've done already. I think you'll recognize most of these people. Okay. Thank you
very much.
Begley, Vincent Cover Pages
Begley, Vincent
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Lily Jandrisevits
For the Marist College Archives and Special Collections
Transcript: Vincent Begley
Interviewee: Vincent Begley
Interviewer: Gus Nolan
Interview Date: 8 April 2019
Location: James A. Cannavino Library
Topic: Marist College History
Subject Headings:
Begley, Vincent
Marist College Alumni
Marist College Faculty
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)
Marist College (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)--Social Aspects
Summary: Vincent Begley talks about his experience attending Marist College in the early days
of the school. He reflects on his time as an English major, including his semester abroad studying
at Oxford University. He discusses the value of a Marist education in his eyes, and what brought
him back as an adjunct professor. He also describes his wishes for the future of Marist as an
innovator of higher education.
Gus Nolan (
00:12
):
We can start now. Good. Thank you. Again, today is Monday the 8th of April. We have a chance
to interview one of the first graduates of Marist from the year 1970, Vincent Begley. Good
morning, Vincent.
Vincent Begley (
00:27
):
Good morning, Gus.
GN (
00:28
):
Vincent, I'd like you if you could give me a short overview of your early life, where were you
born, early education, where the family lived. And I'll interrupt during that asking some
questions as you go. Okay.
VB (
00:44
):
I was born in Manhattan on July 11th, 1948. My-- I was then placed in the founding home across
town in July of '48. I was adopted in February of 1949 by a couple from Brooklyn. So, I left
Manhattan, then went over to Brooklyn, where I spent my first five years until my adoptive
parents moved to Long Island, where I began my education in the public school system in
Seaford at Long Island. By the time I was in eighth grade, I had decided I wanted something a
little different. I wanted to break a mold that my sister and two cousins who had gone to the
school had followed. So, I was accepted at St. Agnes Cathedral High School in Rockville Center,
taught by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville, and they provided a wonderful foundation for
learning. Were very encouraging, very open, just brought out the best in the student. I learned
about writing. It turns out that ironically my birth father, who was a Catholic priest of the
2
Vincent Begley
archdiocese, was not only a writer, he was an English teacher at Archbishop Stepinac High
School. One of the founding faculty was a speech writer for Cardinal Spellman at the time,
directed plays. And those were all the roots that I had in me. So, when I was in high school, they
were formulated. I got involved with journalism, started writing. I was an editor for the
newspaper, and I was encouraged. I knew that writing was where I wanted to go.
GN (
02:29
):
Outside writing, were you involved in any sports or any other activities, choir, drama, stage
[laugh].
VB (
02:35
):
I would've loved to have been more involved in sports, but it was not my calling. I was on the
newspaper, the yearbook staff. I played in the band for four years. I was involved in a number of
volunteer organizations. So, I really immersed myself in everything that the high school had to
offer. And found out by the time I was a senior; it had been a wonderful four year journey.
GN (
03:02
):
How about the summers? Any work, experience, travel, small jobs?
VB (
03:08
):
I had begun working as a little kid, shoveling driveways, raking leaves, cutting lawns, because
my father was of the type that didn't matter how young you were, you should be earning
something. So, I began earning and I learned how to save when I was old enough to get a
traditional kind of job. I was fourteen and a half at the time, and I went to work at Jones Beach as
a bus boy. Spent two summers there, earning money to put away for college. My senior year of
3
Vincent Begley
high school, I got a job working for the post office, which was a lot more money. And so, I tried
to have saved money that I could use when I went to college.
GN (
03:52
):
What did you do in the post office?
VB (
03:54
):
I was a-- worked in the sectional center. It's a huge sectional center and spent eight hours a day
on a conveyor belt sorting mail.
GN (
04:03
):
Oh, very good. Alright, next phase. Marist College. Why did you choose Marist?
VB (
04:10
):
I was up in the air about where to go. I had really wanted to go to a school where I could take
journalism. I wanted to go to Syracuse, the Medill School of Journalism, and those are the two.
And then my father said, get real. So, I had to lower my economic sites. I was told at the
admissions counselor, admissions rep from Marist was going to be up in the guidance office.
When I was a senior, I went up and talked to Mr. Thomas Wade. He was the admissions director
at the time. And we got to talking and, although Manhattan College and St. John Fisher were two
colleges that I thought about, Tom Wade said the magic word. He said, what if we give you
some money?
GN (
04:58
):
I see.
4
Vincent Begley
VB (
04:59
):
And I said, that not only sounds good for me, I'm sure that'll sound good for my father. So, he
offered me a nice financial scholarship and work study and what other scholarships and money I
had. So, I went for a visit and fell in love with it on site.
GN (
05:18
):
Okay, describe Marist when you came here, what was the scene like? Were the dormitories up?
Did we have wall field?
VB (
05:26
):
When I went to come and visit the college before deciding to come here, the Marist brothers
were all on retreat. So, it was very silent campus. I couldn't talk to anybody. Champagnat had
just been completed. This was end of '65, beginning of '66. So Champagnat had just been open.
There was only Leo and Sheahan. Donnelley was built and opening, but it was a very small
campus. But to me it was a big campus, it had everything I wanted, everything that I could
possibly think about. So, my decision was made and I was never doubted making that decision.
GN (
06:13
):
And when you came here, you thought all the way through that you'd like to do something in
writing journalism or something in that line?
VB (
06:19
):
I did because I had written and published some newspaper articles before coming to Marist. I
immediately joined the newspaper staff. One of my jobs was at the library and also with
admissions this time under Mr. David Flynn. I enjoyed meeting new prospective students. I
5
Vincent Begley
enjoyed taking them around and talking to them. So, I married that with my writing and
continued. My only regret, if you could say it, was that I was an English major and I probably
shouldn't have been an English major, admittedly, fifty years later, I could say that I was not
enamored with 17th century English Poetry [laugh] or Shakespeare. I was having a father who
had been a playwright and directed plays, I gravitated towards theater. And I got involved in
theater at Marist and worked on the newspaper. And that was my calling. The fact that Marist
didn't have the program that I wanted was really negligent.
GN (
07:24
):
There was no track in journalism.
VB (
07:25
):
There was no track in journalism, no track in creative writing. But I once took a walk around
campus as a sophomore with then brother Linus Foy. And he told me that there is only a slight
difference between Marist and Harvard, and that is what you put into it as a student. And I took
those words to heart and I realized, you know, borrowing the old Kennedy phrase, it's, you know,
not what your college can do for you, but what you can do for your college. And I realized by
getting fully involved at Marist, in turn, Marist was paying me back because the opportunities
were here. There were no end to the opportunities. Nobody ever said, we've never done that
before. You can't do it.
GN (
08:14
):
Right. How about the music? Did you stay with the band or did you do anything there?
VB (
08:19
):
6
Vincent Begley
I would have continued because I had been playing for eight years, but Marist had no
opportunity. There was nowhere to go with it. So unfortunately, I had to end my music career.
GN (
08:32
):
Other aspects of Marist at that time, making friends, you seem to have a rather social ability to be
able to make new friends, is that a factor?
VB (
08:45
):
I think it was a factor of my personality and Marist, when I went to high school, I was the only--
I didn't know anybody when I started high school. So, I had to learn how to step up to the plate
and meet people and discover who I was. Marist gave me that same opportunity again. I started--
I was the only one from my high school who came to Marist. So, I wasn't labeled. I had no
identity. I could recreate my identity. I met a number of students. I was open to listening to
different mindsets, enjoyed the fact that the faculty were so willing to talk. Brother Cyprian
Rowe was my freshman English teacher, and he was amazing. Amazing man. Dr. Donahue, he
was brother Donohue then, opened my mind to thinking with philosophy. Dr. Lou Zuccarello, I
was so immersed with people who wanted you to think, and the students that I met in all the
activities, it was like being in a candy store.
GN (
09:52
):
How about other activities? Did you work at any time while you were while in college and then
during the summer?
VB (
09:58
):
7
Vincent Begley
I continued working at Marist in the admissions office during the year. In the summer, I was a
parlor car attendant on Long Island Railroad, which meant that the trains that went from Jamaica,
Queens out to the Hamptons. I had a car, and my job was to serve those twenty or twenty-five
people. Again, it was a-- every position I had seemed to be dealing with people. So, if you
wanted to help increase your tips, you had to learn how to be friendly.
GN (
10:30
):
One question I think you mentioned earlier is that you were in the abroad program. Want to say a
few words about your experience in London [laugh].
VB (
10:40
):
Well, brother Joe Bell, as we called him, brother Joseph Belanger, when Sheahan Hall was
started my sophomore year, it was called the humanities house. And it was intended for people
who were thinking of going abroad. It was sort of like a--.
GN (
10:56
):
A league club.
VB (
10:57
):
It was sort of like an incubator for-- and it also was the place where people from abroad came
back. So, he was encouraging me and encouraging me. And an opening came to start a program
at Oxford, at Manchester College in Oxford University. He told me, you'll be the first student to
go there, which was not new for me. I didn't mind starting fresh. They didn't know anything
about the program, though. That's the only drawback. They did not know that-- when I arrived at
Oxford, having gone traditional two years at an American college, when I arrived at Oxford, they
8
Vincent Begley
asked me, they said what would you like to learn this year? I said, well, what courses do I have
to take? They said we don't give courses. I said, do you have a catalog? We don't have a catalog.
I said, then what do we do? They said, you create a program that you want and you will have
tutors. And I said, I haven't even started, and they already need me to have a tutor. But they said,
no. Here a tutor is somebody you sit down with one-on-one for an hour and a half each week,
and you read your essays to your tutor, and they evaluate it, and they challenge you to support
what you said. And the next essay, you came better prepared and you learn more. So, the
educational opportunity was amazing at Oxford to be-- they had a full lecture program and you
could go to any lecture you wanted to go to. I went to lectures by Dame Helen Gardiner, who
was T.S. Eliot's friend and official biographer a man by the name of Dr. Lord Cecil.
GN (
12:35
):
Are you evaluated by word? How-- or are you evaluated at all?
VB (
12:39
):
There was no evaluation. Oxford does not have a grading system. They don't give tests. They
don't give grades, which became a challenge when I came back to Marist, because I was the first
student to go to a program that was like this. Had they known beforehand, they probably-- we
would've done something differently. So, we had to craft together a way to give me credits for
what I had learned.
GN (
13:05
):
Did you get twelve credits or fifteen?
VB (
13:07
):
9
Vincent Begley
I got fifteen credits. Not the GPA that I had left with, but looking back, I would not have
changed it for the world.
GN (
13:16
):
Wonderful. I'll move on. After graduation what did you do? What's the first thing you did? The
first job, maybe.
VB (
13:25
):
I graduated in 1970. That was the year of the Kent State shooting. That's when colleges closed
their doors. And colleges had been in chaos for the two or three years prior to that, because of the
Vietnam War. It was faculty against faculty, student against student. It was very tough time. So, I
was asked by the dean at the time of students who's now Tom Wade and brother Cox at the time,
would I stay on work in the dorms and work with-- as a liaison with students and faculty,
because I had earned the respect of the faculty. I had been a good student involvement person.
So, for two years I worked in residence admissions and with the Dean of Students. So, it was an
opportunity to figure out-- it was sort of my graduate school without credit.
GN (
14:21
):
When did you eventually go to graduate school?
VB (
14:23
):
I believe it or not, at that time, there was only one flavor. If you were an English major, you
became an English-- went to graduate school. And it meant, I, at that time, I had to know either
French or German to be able to read it. And English was difficult for me. Languages were not
10
Vincent Begley
my skill. So, I realized I was not going to cut it as an academic. So, I did not go to graduate
school. Fast forward, forty years later, I went and did my master's in education.
GN (
15:02
):
What did you do for that big part of life after you left Marist?
VB (
15:07
):
After I left Marist, because Marist had done such a great job in training me to think and not be
limited. And because I had done enough writing and research, I realized the traditional job at a
corporation was not my calling. So, I was challenged to think of different ways. I did a lot of
freelance writing for newspapers and magazines, but I earned my bread and butter as a shoe
salesman. And it was a challenge. I-- the summer of 1974, I married a Marist graduate who had
gone abroad. She had gone to Paris, and she had wanted to be a French teacher, but unfortunately
teaching was-- French teachers were in not in high demand.
GN (
15:59
):
Right. Yeah. One other aspect of Marist that you've come back now to do some teaching, how
did that happen?
VB (
16:09
):
I, you know, it's funny to be a student and then to work in the administration and take a long
break. I was working for Mount Saint Mary College. I was the director of marketing
communications, and a call came in from Marist that they were looking for an adjunct who might
be interested in teaching in the school of communications. And I said, I'm your man.
11
Vincent Begley
GN (
16:35
):
What year was this now?
VB (
16:36
):
This was now 2002. End of 2001. The spring of 2001.
GN (
16:43
):
Do you remember who the dean was?
VB (
16:45
):
To be honest, I don't, can't remember.
GN (
16:48
):
Okay. ( ) would that have--.
VB (
16:50
):
It might have been.
GN (
16:51
):
Yeah, alright. Different phase, and then on the same subject, Marist has changed dramatically
from your first days coming. What would you say is the driving force for that? Would you say
it's the Marist spirit, the president, the economic development of the country. Into what phase
would you put this different Marist that we have now? How did it happen?
VB (
17:21
):
12
Vincent Begley
I think the Marist brothers were forward thinking and risk takers. They were willing to take
calculated risks to go from one step to the next. When I started Marist, it was an all-male college.
It was mostly blue-collar, children of blue-collar workers. Marist saw that the future demanded
some changes. So, the decision to go co-ed was important. Another decision, and I played a part
in this because I, in fact started a panel discussion on the Bundy Act of getting aid as a college. I
was pushing that Marist was not going to have to lose anything if they declared themselves a
secular college. The Marist spirit was immersed in the college, it was here. So, I encouraged it,
and Marist did that step. And I think by doing that, it allowed them to reach a broad audience of
students by going co-ed by adding new majors, by their amazing building programs, by the very
fact that their graduates, myself excluded because I didn't light any fires in the corporate world,
but Marist earned a great reputation out in the workplace. So, I think Marist owes a great debt to
the Marist brothers, the Marist spirit primarily, I think, to Linus Foy, who was really a forward
thinker.
GN (
18:58
):
Okay. And with all of this, Marist is still in the same-- it's not Siena, it's not Vassar, it's not
Fordham, it's not Iona. What is this Marist spirit of which you spoke? How would you describe
that?
VB (
19:13
):
Well, let me correct you on that. I think it's Siena squared. I think Marist is a-- has such a high
reputation out there among high school students. I think the Marist spirit is embraced by anybody
who joins the faculty. I think it's an amazing, it's in the air, it's in the DNA, I think of anybody
who's part of Marist. I think they're committed to it. They do it with a passion. And I think that's
13
Vincent Begley
what's driven Marist. And I think that spirit-- talk to anybody who's graduated from Marist and,
you know--.
GN (
19:55
):
Well, you're kind of the embodiment of that. You have friends from Marist still now? Forty years
after you left here.
VB (
20:01
):
50 years almost, yes.
GN (
20:02
):
Do you feel that that same spirit is enacted in the recent graduates?
VB (
20:09
):
I think it might be, but I think the only trouble I see, and it's not just Marist, I think it's in the
nature of higher education. Higher education has now, new demands have been put on it to
students-- come get me a job, show me the path to a career. When I started, it was, show me a
path to become a learner, a thinker, and a driver. Now I think the students now, because of their
parents, expect to come here to take the right number of courses at the right time, do the right
internships to land a job in the business world.
GN (
20:55
):
Okay. The crystal ball, what do you see down the line for Marist? Talk about Marist as you
might envision it in then or fifteen years, years from now. Will it still be here?
VB (
21:09
):
14
Vincent Begley
I think it will be here, but I almost think I would like to see Marist start a Marist within Marist. I
guess having, I was just back in Oxford on a trip because I had to take a trip to Rome and I had a
chance to get up to England for a day. The Oxford mentality of learning for learning's sake, I
would like to see that embodied here. And to have students take a course or a program that is not
so grounded in the traditional three credits, three credits, three credits, give them a chance to
have tutorials, be in seminars, learn to think, and not be so directed on a career path. So, I'd like
to see Marist start a Marist within a Marist that would eventually spill out. Because even though
colleges like Marist have great technology, it’s still done the same way, textbook, syllabus, test,
assignments, grades that was going on twenty, thirty years before I even went to college. If one
thing I would like, I could just add, I would like Marist to be the first college that allows students
to take courses either for two credits, three credits, or four credits. You can take a course, one
student takes it for two credits. One, taking it for four. Student taking it for two knows that this is
what they have to do to get those two credits. The student taking it for three has to do this. The
student taking it for four does it for this. That way it puts more of a opportunity on the student. I
really want to invest my time in this course, so I'm going to do it for four credits. That other
course I'll take for two credits. I would like to take it, but I don't want to invest as much time in
it. And I think then you're allowing students to really create their education.
GN (
23:06
):
Very interesting. Okay. Related to that then, let's say, suppose you were invited to speak to the
board of trustees about a need that Marist has. Is this what you would say to them?
VB (
23:21
):
15
Vincent Begley
Yes. I would say be one of the first colleges that decides we need to rethink how higher
education is delivered rather than continue the tradition of 100, 200, 300, 400 level courses, three
credits, GPA. I think America is ready for that. And I think I'd like to see Marist take a step.
That's why I'm saying create a college within a college that you could investigate how is it
working, and then be able to expand it.
GN (
23:52
):
Yeah. I guess we would need a major grant though, because the mentality now of most students
is what you've been saying, go to this college so when you finish college, you would get a good
job. But if that didn't matter, you didn't have to pay off a student loan, and you were supported
for this learning, you'd be home free at the end of it. You'd be very smart, or at least you'd be
educated.
VB (
24:17
):
Right.
GN (
24:18
):
Yeah. You're supposed to be doing the talking, not me [laugh]. Okay, another question, is Marist
worth the investment? I say that because it costs $50,000 a year, now. It takes a lot of effort.
Marist is a place where you have to go to class. You just can't live in the dormitories because
then you soon will be dropped. You'll be low-- your grade average, it takes a commitment on
social--. You have to leave home for the most part. The campus is, most students come to live on
campus. And so, it's a whole new social world. So, it takes a lot of guts and donation, a
commitment to do this. At the end of it, you know, is it worth it?
16
Vincent Begley
VB (
25:11
):
I would say that the dollars and cents is questionable because when I came to Marist, it was
$1,400 a year, tuition, room and board. But even then, $1,400 was more than if you had gone to a
state school for $400. So, there has always been a-- you have always had to pay more for it. Do I
think sixty, fifty, $60,000 is worth it? I would say it is. If the students felt the ownership and
responsibility of it prior to getting-- graduating and being hit with loans. I think what happens
now is students are not aware of the cost because it's not real to them. They're of the debit card
generation where, you know, you just, things get paid for. Like the course I teach, I don't require
them to use a textbook. I teach from a textbook, but I provide them with ample reading material,
et cetera. I'm saving them about $135 because I'm not requiring tax, that doesn't impact them,
doesn't mean anything to them, because that $135 for the textbook isn't coming out of their
pocketbook.
GN (
26:24
):
It's not theirs
VB (
26:24
):
It's not theirs. So, I think as far as an investment in the future, they're going to owe a lot of
money and hopefully they'll be able to get jobs that they enjoy. But I almost wish that they had to
pay for college after they graduated. That instead of taking loans, sort of like the tuition they're
paying is covering the tuition for a student rather than build up debt and graduate with debt,
graduate with no debt, but have an obligation of paying the college back.
GN (
27:04
):
17
Vincent Begley
With a good job. You'll probably get-- if you have a good education, if you can read and write,
you probably will be wanted in any organization.
VB (
27:12
):
Well, that's what I tell my students. I said, the two skills that will separate you is if you have
good writing skills and good critical reading skills. I said, that'll separate you because most
people don't read and most people don't venture to write.
GN (
27:27
):
Would you put speech into that?
VB (
27:29
):
Yes. Speech, public speaking, yes. I think what helped me at Marist was as an admissions
counselor when I was a senior going around, I never knew when I went to a high school was I
going to be just talking to one or two students. Often times I would go in, there was a whole
auditorium of seniors. I had to think on my feet and be able to be articulate enough to them. So, I
think public speaking skills are essential.
GN (
27:54
):
One last big part of the question though. Your personal response. What was, if I could put it this
way, what was your biggest disappointment at Marist? Or was there any?
VB (
28:10
):
To be very honest, I, other than the snafu of my grades from Oxford back to Marist, I would say
I had no disappointments because, I was like this kid, I'll use the expression, a little kid is
18
Vincent Begley
brought into a room and its waist high in manure. And the kid goes into the room, and he jumps
in and he's slashing about throwing the manure all over. And he has a smile on his face. And they
said to him, what's going on? And he said, with all this manure, there has to be a pony in here
somewhere [laugh]. So that was my attitude, so I could have no disappointment. Marist, let you
look for that pony.
GN (
28:51
):
Okay. Well turn it around now. What was your biggest joy of Marist?
VB (
28:57
):
I think my biggest joy was feeling part of something. Meeting the woman who was my wife for
forty-five years at Marist. Having a son, we couldn't afford him undergraduate tuition. He came
and worked here as the director of intramural sports, and he did his masters here. So, I did
continue the family tradition in a small way. So, I think Marist was my-- the greatest gift is that
it's a place where I can come back to, and I've come back for seventeen years as an adjunct.
GN (
29:34
):
We're not paying you a lot of money for that. So--.
VB (
29:36
):
No, unfortunately, I was born without a money gene. I did not have this drive to make a lot of
money, hence the reason I'm still working. But it's just that Marist is a-- there's a spirit here that
you can still sense even fifty years after I graduated.
GN (
29:56
):
19
Vincent Begley
Wonderful. Now I've covered mine, is there anything more you'd like to add to this opportunity?
Because I have to tell you, I found this interview, it's most interesting. I never heard this
explanation about how Oxford works, you know, and I think that's a great insight and a good
idea that people might pick up, that we could have used that here. So, and you have permanent
friends from your early years at Marist as I witnessed today. I'm talking about what's his name
again [laugh].
VB (
30:32
):
Bryan Maloney.
GN (
30:32
):
Bryan Maloney.
VB (
30:33
):
I don't know, the only thing, I was very surprised to get your call to do this because I never felt
that I was on any radar important enough to talk to. My personality is, I don't need to be center
stage. But--.
GN (
30:57
):
It's a joy to have you let me simply say that. And with that, I'll let you look and see the
interviews that I've done already. I think you'll recognize most of these people. Okay. Thank you
very much.
Begley, Vincent Cover Pages
Begley, Vincent