Commencement 2007 - Villanova University

eaching his objectives. Such exceptionshowever, do not come on a daily basis, thefootball coach said.Wright began his presentation acknowledgingthe importance of sharing ideas,joking that he was going to steal the testthat Coach Talley had just talked aboutand use it for the men’s basketball team. Itis the sharing of ideas, Wright continued,that leads to success. What separates Villanovafrom many other institutions, hesaid, is that there is a high level of sharingideas—among coaches, among faculty andbetween the two groups.“The faculty, like Dr. Heitzmann, contributesgood ideas to our team,” Wrightsaid, giving a nod to the moderator.To expect a full effort from the students,Wright emphasized, faculty mustshow that same effort. “So, be enthusiastic,”he said. “It is one of the most importantingredients in teaching. The studentsare going to watch you and what you aredoing in and outside of that classroom.They will give back to you what you giveto them,” Wright added, echoing a pointmade by Milhous.The men’s basketball head coach concludedhis talk by encouraging new ideas,stating that the fear of failure should nothinder the ability to try new methods andtechniques.Heitzmann, a former coach and authorof several books, both on athletics andacademics, gave the closing comments. Heemphasized teacher enthusiasm as the bestway to enhance student performance.During a Q&A session, the coacheselaborated on some of their ideas. Theyaddressed the issue of radio host Don Imus’controversial comments about the RutgersUniversity women’s basketball team duringan April broadcast of his program(CBS later fired Imus).The coaches also reflected on timeswhen former Wildcats have returned toVillanova and even helped mentor teams.In particular, Talley recalled HezekiahLewis ’98 A&S, ’02 G.S., a former footballteam captain now working toward a doctoratein fine arts and directing film and televisionat UCLA. Lewis recently directedthe award-winning film “Memoirs of aSmoker,” which documents the life of drugaddicts in Los Angeles.“Harry [Perretta] is actually a proponentof maintaining close contacts withalumni,” said Lee, herself a former Wildcatwomen’s basketball team member. All ofCurtis Places Second in5,000m at NCAA FinalsBobby Curtis posted an amazing second-place finish onJune 8 in the finals of the 5,000m event at the NCAAOutdoor Track and Field Championships, held at CaliforniaState University, Sacramento. In this race, Curtis, ared-shirted senior, put forth a truly courageous effort but eventuallyfell just short of Wisconsin’s Chris Solinsky. Despite justmissing the title, Curtis managed to set a personal best with atime of 13:39:88, shaving four seconds off his previous mark.“Bobby ran a terrific race,” said Marcus O’Sullivan ’84 VSB,’89 M.B.A., who is the Frank J. Kelly Endowed Track and FieldCoach. “He has made tremendous progress, and we are all reallyproud of him, as well as all of his accomplishments.”Curtis and Michael Kerrigan ’07 VSB were both thrilledthis spring to break the 4-minute mile. It was a milestone forVillanova track and field to achieve this in the same race, andit was a personal best for the two runners. During the LastChance Meet at Swarthmore College on May 14, Curtis ranthe mile in 3:57.20 and Kerrigan in 3:59.60. “It has alwaysbeen a dream of mine to accomplish,” noted Kerrigan.(Right) A cross country and distance runner, Bobby Curtis achieved a personal best at theNCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June. He is majoring in economics.the coaches agreed that seeing formerteam members return to Villanova is oneof the best parts of the job.Dr. Mark Doorley was among the facultyand staff members who said they leftthe session with some good input. “Thispresentation made me aware that there’s alot more going on between coaches andtheir students than justwinning a game,” henoted. Doorley is an associateprofessor of ethicsand director of the EthicsProgram in the Collegeof Liberal Arts and Sciences.He also indicatedthat both faculty andcoaching staff have ashared purpose in teachingand mentoring students.“We’re not in twoseparate tracks but reallyworking as a team,”Doorley said.Dr. Helen K. Lafferty,University vice president,also attended the session.She commented that theUniversity has excellentcoaches who not only know what is goingon in the games but also are attentive totheir students’ needs. “While they want towin the game, they never put this overconcerns for their students,” she said.For further information on this or othersessions presented by VITAL, visit www.villanova.edu/vital/2007 Villanova Football ScheduleSeptember1 Maryland College Park, Md. 6 p.m.8 Lehigh Bethlehem, Pa. 1 p.m.15 Maine Villanova, Pa. 6 p.m.22 Penn Villanova, Pa. 6 p.m.29 James Madison Harrisonburg, Va. NoonOctober6 William & Mary Villanova, Pa. 6 p.m.13 Massachusetts Amherst, Mass. 1 p.m.27 Hofstra Villanova, Pa. 3:30 p.m.November3 Richmond Richmond, Va. 3:30 p.m.10 Towson Towson, Md. Noon17 Delaware Villanova, Pa. 3:30 p.m.Summer 2007 67