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February
28, 2005
Dr. Antoinette Iadarola
Cabrini College
610 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087
Dear Dr. Iadarola,
It is with a very heavy heart that I write this letter. I have
truly struggled with writing and sending this letter to you, Robin
Moll and the Board of Trustees. Cabrini College means a great deal
to me. The values and morals that I have came from my parents, but
they were strengthened by my time at Cabrini College. Through the
people that I interacted with, either in the classroom, at a
work-study job on campus, through my numerous extra curricular
activities or through the staff and administration I befriended. I
hold these values and the relationships I established while at
Cabrini close to my heart and they mean a great deal to me. But I am
confused and ashamed at the manner in which Cabrini College has
handled the situation with John Dzik.
John Dzik is a kind, caring, honorable man, a true educator,
mentor and friend. During his 25 years at Cabrini he has taken time
to care for each one of his players and for many more people who
never played for him. These players and non-players are all people
who care for John Dzik and that John Dzik cares about.
I have heard the stories and the comments that Leslie Dahney was
promoted to Athletic Director because John Dzik was gracious to step
aside and allow someone else the opportunity to have professional
growth. As a female who has struggled in the field of college
athletics and sports management, I found this movement within the
college notable and thought this was exactly the type of person John
Dzik is, always willing to help others advance personally and
professionally. But to do this and be “rewarded” with the disgrace
of being removed from his position of Head Men’s Basketball Coach is
appalling.
As a student, I expressed my desire to want to get into the field
of sports management. I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it, but
John Dzik helped me. He helped me to seek out opportunities, apply
for various positions, sharpen my interviewing skills and then
experience each one of my sports internships. I had the opportunity
to intern with the Philadelphia BIG 5, the Atlantic 10 Conference
and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). John Dzik may have
made some phone calls to help me get my foot in the door, but it was
my skills, experience and determination that landed me the USOC
internship and John Dzik was the one who convinced me to apply. When
I said, who would take a “girl from a small time school”, he said
“why wouldn’t they.” Low and behold a few months later I was walking
around campus with a letter congratulating me for being accepted
into the USOC internship program. The first place I went after
receiving this letter was to John Dzik, not a phone call home to my
family. I went to John Dzik, because he understood what being
accepted into this internship program meant to me, the significance
of this internship and the opportunities that would be open to me.
John Dzik could have walked away from me then, but he didn’t. He
helped me to come up with the funding to get to Colorado Spring. He
introduced me to a few people and spoke of the internship I had just
been awarded and a long time friend of the men’s basketball program
paid for my airfare. No questions asked. Not many people would do
this, but they would if John Dzik asked them too. This is a true
testament to John Dzik’s commitment to the students of Cabrini
College.
My USOC internship is an experience that I will remember forever.
This coveted program only accepts at a maximum 20 students each
semester. Every student involved in this program comes from a “big”
college with over 10,000 students. In the summer of 1995, I walked
across the campus of the USOC in Colorado Spring, CO. I never would
have even considered this opportunity if it wasn’t for the
encouragement and belief that John Dzik had for me, let alone even
knew that this opportunity existed. I placed Cabrini College on the
map that summer to many people who had never heard of Cabrini
College or knew that it even existed. How many Alumni can you say
had the opportunity to intern at the United States Olympic
Committee?
Cabrini prides itself on its Core Values: RESPECT –
VISION – COMMUNITY - DEDICATION TO EXCELLENCE. I challenge
you to reflect on these values and how you implored each one in the
handling this situation and the long-term effects it will have on
future alumni contributions to the College, financial and otherwise.
I am sure that you have received numerous letters from Alumni,
Parents and Current Students all expressing their outrage. While I
may have never set foot on the basketball court and helped win a
game, a PAC Championship or helped take the team to the NCAA
Division III Tournament (not State Championships) I still learned
just as much and value Coach Dzik just as much. Coach Dzik is a
mentor, father figure and coach to so many of us. He could have
walked away from me the first day he met me, as I was not a student
athlete. But he didn’t!! He took the time to get to know me and help
me to achieve the goals I wanted and told me if they were reasonable
or if I was setting myself up for failure, or taking on a fight I
may not win because I was trying to get in a male-dominated
industry. I graduated in 1997 and Coach Dzik has continued to mentor
and guide me in the field of sports management. I currently am the
Assistant Director of a national non-profit organization, The First
Tee of Greater Trenton (part-time), in addition to working for a
national marketing company as a Senior National Account Director,
handling our east coast accounts.
I have attended Cabrini College basketball games since I have
graduated and love them just as I did as a student. But the part
that gets me each time is that Coach Dzik, John Kelly and Mike
Keeley have always made me feel that I was part of the “family.” You
may be able to take their jobs away, but you will never take away
the fact that we are all family to each other.
As I said at the beginning of my letter, I am writing this with a
very heavy heart. This college means a great deal to me. I don’t
know of all of the underlying circumstances as to why this decision
has been made, but I hope that while you have worked to build great
big buildings on this campus that you are not going to walk off this
campus in a few years without caring or any remorse for what you
have done to John Dzik and those of us who care so deeply for him. I
will not continue to support your request for donations or
participation in alumni functions. I will not encourage potential
students to consider Cabrini College.
Each year you have asked Alumni to increase their donations, so
that you could show that Alumni donations have increased to try and
get additional dollars from other resources. I agreed with this
strategy and each year increased my donation. Finishing out 2004 I
finally thought I would be able to increase further my donation to
the college and finally make a substantial donation. But with the
news of your firing John Dzik I do not feel that I can write a check
to the college now or in years to come. I can tell you, the Board of
Trustees and Robin Moll that wherever John Dzik lands I will make a
donation to that institution. So for now I will just continue to
save what I would have made as my donation and the lucky institution
or organization that has the honor of hiring John Dzik will be
pleased to receive a donation from me. It is a fact that many of my
classmates and friends who have graduated over the past 8-10 years
are probably also financially better off now than they were a few
years ago and could now consider making a donation or larger
donation to the college than they have in the past. I will begin
encouraging them to hold on to their checks and wait and see where
John Dzik gets hired.
Believe in the decisions that the college has made? I will, but
believe me that the Alumni don’t BELIEVE that Mother Ursula would
ever have taken a person out of their job who has done so much for
the college in a positive way and has impacted on so many lives. And
believe me, while you and I may have had the opportunity to interact
when I was the President of the Student Government Association and I
helped sway opinions and get people to listen to all of the views
that there were to a situation. I will not do that with this
situation. Believe me that my financial donations will go wherever
Coach Dzik goes.
Regards,
Andrea Kelliher
Class of 1997
Assistant Director, The First Tee of Greater Trenton
Senior National Account Manager, Campaigners Inc.
Cc: Robin Moll, Leslie Dahney, Christine Lysionek, Cabrini
College Board of Trustees, The Loquitur
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