The Griffin: volume 52, issue 01 - Sept. 18, 1981

              A Canisius Jesuit who was involved in a long-standing legal battle between the college and a former faculty member here was reassigned to another Jesuit community this summer. Father Joseph S. Roth, a former instructor in philosophy, left the college July 29 and began ah assignment at LeMoyne College in Syracuse. , ' \ Roth said that he had been silenced in connection with a sex discrimination suit filed against the school by Dr. Marian Gray, a former professor of Elementary Education. Gray was dismissed by college President James M. Demske in 1978 on charges of misconduct, resulting in part from Gray's legal action against a colleague in 1975. Officials deny Roth's transfer was connected with the Gray case. They said the decision was not made by Canisius College. Roth was elected in 1976 to a five member faculty committee reviewing evidence connected with Demske's charges against Gray. After 60 sessions the committee unanimously declared in a report, that the charges against Gray could not be sufficiently proven. The report also recommended that Gray be reinstated at the college. Following the report Roth addressed an 18-page letter to Demske and Father Edmund G. Ryan, vice president for Academic Affairs here, in connection with Gray's dismissal. The letter said, in part, "If a member of our Jesuit community believes your statements on the Gray case analyzed above, then his mind Galie said that most of the improvements are stilt in the planning and discussion stages. He said that he would like to see a course developed at Canisius that would offer to the student for (continued on Page 10) "If we accomplish everything planned, we will have for students what they won't get in any othercollege in the country." The Center would be a "valuable asset for students," Galie said. "We could give everything students need to make the iump to law school." Dr. Peter Galie, a member of the Canisius pre-law committee, said that the Center will create a program "as good as,- if not better," than any other pre-law program in the country. and senior pre-law majors. vice president Fr. Edmund Ryan says Dean Sharrow's remarks have been misinterpreted, that he was merely stating that the Gray case should have no bearing on the question of Father Roth's assignment." WIVB quoted Ryan as stating "the college is not directly responsible for reassigning Father Roth. That's a completely internal Jesuit affair. I am not an officer in the Jesuit order; I am an official of Canisius College, and the Jesuits, of which I am a member, take a vow of obedience, and if a superior tells us we are transferred somewhere, we go." Pre-Law Program Set; Financed by Endowment NCR reported that Roth said "I am not allowed as a Jesuit to speak freely on the case of Dr. Gray. I have been forbidden to do so by my superiors." ... it is my personal opinion that the ongoing pursuit of this particular case may be counterproductive . . . and disruptive of a collegial atmosphere." Sharrow noted in the evaluation that "It-is difficult for me to construe Father Roth's continued involvement in the Gray case as an example of service to the college In a segment prepared for WIVB-TV by Rich Newberg, the station reported that "Canister? The eight $1,000 scholarships will be given annually to junior by Mike Hirsch Canisius is planning to vastly upgrade its undergraduate prelaw program. This upgrading will be financed by an endowment granted this summer by Frank G. Raichle, Regent and Trustee here. The Frank G. Raichle Pre-Law Center, as it- will be called, will fund a resident legal scholar, a law lecture series, scholarships, more library material on law, counseling and advisement, new courses, and more outside activities in the law field. Funds from the Raichle Center will also be used to better identify students interested in pre-law and then to more ably prepare them for law school and a law profession.The second part of the NCR series focused, in part, on a 1981 evaluation of Roth by Walter Sharrow, Dean-of Arts and Sciences. NCR reported that The NCR quoted Demske as saying that "there was nothing to this allegation of reprisals against Jesuits." Further, the NCR report stated Roth's superior; Father John Canavan, "denied that Roth had been silenced." was a '"customary practice" at Jesuit institutions The NCR also reported that the college's philosophy department "unanimously protested administration refusal to let Roth continue teaching." The National Catholic Reporter newspaper published a two-part series outlining the case and local Buffalo television station WIVB aired another report on July 29. The first segment of the NCR article, published July 17, reported that part-time teaching assignments for retired Jesuits Roth's case received extensive media attention over the summer. Roth, along with two other Jesuits here, was slated to retire after the Spring 1981 semester. He was denied a part-time teaching appointment after retirement, sometimes reserved for Jesuits. clings to false and misleading information."Renovation of College Facilities Is Extensive (photo by Mike Hirsch) (photo by Mike Hirsch) Silencing Move Denied Jesuit Reassigned Over Summer B q jfl ' Old Main classroom prior to recent renovations. ' - / •' ' * : ■ - - ' ' v . : \ VOLUME Lll, NUMBER 1 Canisius College FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1981 Lower ceilings and fresh paint give classrooms a new look. (continued on Page 3) An important target of the renovation is the Main-Eastwood Building. This building will house the new computer science program. The St. Vincent's school gym and cafeteria is now the Computer Center. The second floor of the building will provide the offices and facilities for members of the department. This faH-; an elevator and bridge connecting St. Vincent's to the second floor of Old Main will be built. The sprucing up is the result of a three-year-plan to modernize the campus. The plan was started in the summer of 1980 by the Long- Range Facilities Planning Committee. The committee, chaired by Dr. Lawrence Franz, Vice President of Business and Finance, with Dr. James Leone as faculty Vice President and student Ken Brechtel as student Vice President, recommended the plan to Fr. Demske and the Board of Trustees. The proposal passed and work was begun. by Randy Andreozzi Canisius College has a new look this fall. Fr. Joseph S. Roth, S.J., former instructor of philosophy, outside of Loyola Hall. (photo by Donna Berghorn) by Melanie Gleaves