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June, 1937 The Notre Dame Alumnus 245
Hughes Reports on Anti-Communism Trips
And now I have come to the end
of my year. I am told that custom
dictates that at this time I should
render an account of my stewardship.
I should tell you what I have done
during my year as President of our
National Alumni Association.
In that connection, however, my
administration has been somewhat of
a peculiar one, because I alone have
not carried the major part of the
burden of the Association's activities
during the past year. That burden
has been earned in large measure by
Notre Dame men throughout the
length and the breadth of this country,
and instead, therefore, of reporting
to you what I have done, I
am going to report to you on what
they have done, within the narrow
limitations of the time allotted to me.
Thanks Pope for Assistance
Before passing to that, however, I
want to make of this a solemn moment
during which I desire most sincerely
to extend to His Holiness, Pope
Pius the Eleventh, our deepest appreciation
and our mose sincere
thanks for the saintly blessing which
he conferred upon the work of our
Association last September. Without
having the full, unqualified approval
which He gave unstintingly to the
plans that we hoped to achieve, the
accomplishment of those plans would
have dwarfed into insignificance.
I next want to offer, also, to His
Eminence, George Cardinal Mundelein
of the Archdiocese of Chicago,
the sincere thanks of our Association
for the endeavors which he put forth
in making possible my private audience
with the Holy Father. Cardinal
Mundelein's cooperation was graciously
extended to Father O'Hara
and myself at an audience which was
afforded to us in Chicago last August.
I desire at this time, also, to sincerely
thank Father O'Hara for the
fine inspiration and support and leadership
which he has constantly given
us in our campaign against Communism
throughout the year. There
wasn't a time that I wanted to see
him that he didn't make it possible
for me to see him, and there wasn't
a time that I virrote to him that I
didn't get an immediate reply. He
Alumni Association President Tells of Numerous
Public Meetings Arranged by Notre Dame
Clubs and of the Excellent Results Achieved.
By Arthur J. Hughes, "11
(An Address nt the Alumni Banquet)
has been shoulder to shoulder with
us in all of our endeavors, and he
leads us now triumphantly in whatever
accomplishments we may have
attained.
I have said to you that there were
able and aggressive and loyal Notre
Dame men throughout this whole
land of ours who also cooperated
with me most nobly in our joint_ endeavors
to carry the colors of Notre
Dame to the very heights of patriotism
and honor and good citizenship,
and that Notre Dame man who was
most outstanding in the results that
he was able to achieve in behalf of
Notre Dame and our Alumni Associa-
ARTIIUR J. HUGHES
tion is our good friend, Jimmy Phelan,
football coach at Washington
University.
Jimmy was ably assisted in those
endeavors which he put forth daily
over a period of some three months
by Emmet G. Lenihan, another outstanding
Notre Dame man, whose
record also as a student, as well as a
graduate, has been preeminent in the
annals of our school. Those of us
who are gathered here at this Commencement
time to participate in the
twentieth anniversary reunion of the
class of 1917 can well be proud of
these two fine representatives of our
class for the marvelous v^ork that
they did in our behalf.
Four thousand people crossed the
threshold of one of the largest auditoriums
in Seattle, Washington, to attend
out meeting and some 30-odd
of the city's most prominent leaders
were on the platform. Bishop Shaughnessy
of the diocese of Seattle sponsored
the meeting on behalf of the
Seattle Truth Society, of which
George Flood is the president.
Throughout those long preparations
Father Gallagher, chancellor of the
Seattle diocese, worked constantly
with Jim to put over, not only the
biggest meeting of this year, but the
biggest civic meeting ever held, I am
told, under Notre Dame auspices outside
the confines of the campus.
Success in Springfield
I should mention next perhaps the
meeting of the Notre Dame Club of
Springfield, Illinois, so ably handled
by Charles G. Corcoran, president of
the club, and another member of onr
class of 1917, in association with
George Maypole, president pro tem
of the Illinois Senate. As a part of
the gathering a dinner was tendered
by Bishop Griffin of the Springfield
diocese in honor of Father O'Hara,
and about the banquet table there
were gathered not only Father O'­
Hara, as honored guest, but Bishop
Griffin and Bishop Schlarman of the
diocese of Peoria, Honorable Henry
Homer,, Governor of the State of
Illinois, and all of the state officials
and prominent citizens of the city.
Our meeting in Minneapolis, under
the auspices of the Notre Dame Club
of that city, and under the direction
of John D. Yelland and Jerry Conway,
was a most memorable one with
cround 600 people in the audience.
In St. Louis the St. Louis Club,
under the direction of Dr. Weis, as
its president, with the able cooperation
of John L. Corley of the class of
1902, secured the sponsorship of the
Jesuit Fathers of St. Louis Tlniversity
and our meeting was held in the University
auditorium with a great
crowd in attendance.
In Portland, Oregon, Charles G.
Hirschbuhl of the class of 1922, ably