Two eleventh hour requests for President von Arx

COPY October 21, 2010 Jeffrey von Arx, S.J. President Fairfield University Fairfield, Connecticut Re: Two eleventh hour requests Dear President von Arx, First Request: I am pleading with you at this eleventh hour to allow our small group of advocates to hand out fliers just outside the Barone Campus Center. Why? Being close by, instead of being banished to the far away campus entrance, offers us the opportunity to more fully discuss the desperate plight of the boys in Haiti with attendees of Homecoming Weekend. A donation box would be available for people who want to help. As I have told you repeatedly, we are scraping and begging for every dollar we can get to help feed, clothe and educate the boys who were abused at Project Pierre Toussaint. Second Request: In addition, I am asking you to hold a special collection for the boys in Haiti at the Homecoming Mass, scheduled for 11:00 am on Sunday, October 24th  at the on campus Egan Chapel. I am certain you will agree that it is incumbent upon all caring and concerned people to help these child sex abuse victims know that someone cares about them. We must stand side by side and, as best we can, be in communion and solidarity with their pain and suffering. I look forward to your timely response. Sincerely, Paul Kendrick Fairfield University '72 * "Solidarity is learned through "contact" rather than through "concepts." When the heart is touched by direct experience, the mind may be challenged to change. Personal involvement with innocent suffering, with the injustices others suffer, is the catalyst for solidarity which then gives rise to intellectual inquiry and moral reflection." Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., former Jesuit superior general, October 2000 at Santa Clara University. ____________________ "La vraie reconstruction d'Haïti passe par des réformes en profondeur des structures de l'État pour restaurer la confiance, encourager les investisseurs et mettre le peuple au travail. Il faut finir avec cette approche d'un État paternaliste qui tout en refusant de créer le cadre approprié pour le développement des entreprises mendie des millions sur la scène internationale en exhibant la misère du peuple." Cyrus Sibert Reconstruction d'Haïti : A quand les Réformes structurelles? Haïti : La continuité du système colonial d'exploitation  prend la forme de monopole au 21e Siècle. WITHOUT REFORM, NO RETURN ON INVESTMENT IN HAITI (U.S. Senate report.)