Winning Off The Field

Fellow Crusaders, 

As we look forward to Saturday's opening game vs Monmouth and a very successful 2015 campaign on the field for our Crusaders, I would like to share with you news of huge wins off the field as we look to continually elevate the commitment to excellence for the Holy Cross Football family. I thank all those directly and indirectly involved in supporting the cause. 

1. On August 3rd, we had a blowout event at Hopkinton CC for our annual golf outing. With upwards of 110 golfers and another few dozen joining us for dinner, the atmosphere that day was electric. Aside from raising upwards of $60k for the program (three plus times what had been raised in prior years), we also had two double eagles (more rare than a hole in one) registered on the day. Props to board chair John Mahoney and Harry Flaherty (2015 Ring of Honor inductee) for holing out a blind shot from 180-200 yards on the 15th.

Major thanks to all those on the golf committee and Heather Palmer, head of the Crusader Athletics Fund, for making this all happen. Circle the date July 18 2016 for next year's "can't miss" event back at Hopkinton.    

2. Speaking of the 2015 Ring of Honor festivities. Please join us (RSVP via that link) on October 3rd as we induct Harry (HC '84) and Tom Hennessey '63 into the select group that is the Holy Cross Ring of Honor. I want to personally thank Reggie McIntyre, the head of marketing at Holy Cross, for taking this year's reception and program to an entirely new level. We expect a huge turnout for the 9:30am reception in Hogan Ballroom and halftime induction ceremony at Fitton. Please join us as we honor Harry and Tom while simultaneously celebrating the great tradition of Holy Cross Football and elevating the good name of Alma Mater. #special #risetogether 

3. I want to take a moment and extend my most heartfelt congratulations and gratitude to Pete Mondani '78 who after an incredibly distinguished career will be retiring from GE in 2016. Some on this distribution are certainly aware of Pete's longstanding dedication and commitment to Holy Cross. For those not aware, I welcome highlighting the facts that over the last few decades, Pete has brought 75+ individual Crusaders to work at GE, he has had 5-7 Crusaders intern there each and every summer, and he has mentored and provided career counseling to countless Crusaders long before there was any thought of a formal mentoring program known as the "90-Wide." Pete is a true inspiration and embodies the ultimate in what it means to "bleed Purple.". 

I share these details not only to congratulate and thank Pete but also in the hope that others will be similarly inspired. Please ask yourself how you might also in any small way impact the future professional lives of our current and future Crusaders. Feel free to write to me with any and all ideas and leads so we can put the wheels in motion and continue to pursue victory at every turn. Thank you Pete!!

4. Speaking of Pete, one of the Crusaders who got his start at GE took his skills developed there and subsequently moved on to the highly regarded private equity firm Blackstone. I welcome sharing a recent message I received from Luke Chmielinski '11:    

Larry,

Hope all is well! I just wanted to let you know we are in the middle of building an HC machine here at Blackstone. We have myself, James McLaughlin (Football '11), Vinny Garafolo (Soccer '12), Pete Anastasio (Football '14) and a new member Carl Losito ('13) all that joined within the past two years. 

I have worked with HR to get on campus recruiting at HC for next year's summer internship program and both Pam Ahearn in Career Planning at Holy Cross and our HR team are psyched!!!

All the best!

-Luke    

How great is that. Talk about excellence. Great job Luke!!

5. Last but not least, if a picture paints a thousand words, this photo below says it all. Major props to Jeff Wiley '87 (Ring of Honor 2013 inductee) and Steve Fox '78 for hosting recent grad Tyler Zeoli as they scrubbed up and "operated" both literally and figuratively. This is what we are talking about, boys and girls. 

So thanks to all for helping us continue to develop a winning culture and commitment to excellence in helping all those connected to Holy Cross Football win both on and off the field.   

Let's Win!!  

LD