Skaboojie. Coward. Gutless wonder. For Christ's sake, stand up and be a man.
Over the years, I heard these same invectives hurled at me and my teammates. And now the tables have turned. According to the Palmisano memo to Marlene Mosco and the Mercyhurst Board of Trustees (December 15, 2004) there "appears to be merit" to the claims that the then college president had indeed sexually molested and otherwise physically abused the Rosenthals, Bruce Kennedy (and others) in their boyhood as they claimed way back on October 10th, 2004. "Cumulative facts and other information have come forth which tend to support" these allegations. And, "further, and even more significant, the information gathered in recent days demonstrates that persons - in addition to those identified in the (original) article - will level similar allegations of misconduct against Dr. Garvey." Palmisano is talking about Dr. William P. Garvey, Ph.D., serial pedophile.
Garvey thought he was untouchable. The man who would be king. An Emperor. He thought he could act with impunity and court his little harem of boys. As they grew older, Garvey would find positions for them and assimilate them into the greater Garvey order, primarily at Mercyhurst but elsewhere as well. And noone would or could do anything about it. Well, Garvey may yet turn out to be right. So far, he appears to have come away from this affair relatively unscathed. But, the barbarians are at the gate. Look at the carnage, the shame, the rumor, and the innuendo those close to him are shouldering, whether justly or not, for their loyalty. First, it was Mary Daly. Recently, Gary Bukowski, Mike Fuhrman, and other ex-player's names have surfaced. Jim Barker. Bill Welch. And now Marlene Mosco, Bill Sennett, the Mercyhurst Board of Trustees, and even ex-Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge are the latest with Garvey's egg on their face. Whatever their relative degrees of involvement, they are his public and private associates, his vanguard. These people are taking the arrows. For Garvey. What about the poor people who, knowingly or not, swore their support of Garvey in the ad that appeared October 17th, 2004, in the Erie Daily Times? Garvey has left them all hanging, holding his honor in their empty hands. And he hasn't the courage to let them know it. He has let them all continue to make fools of themselves on his behalf while he fiddles, appearing on WJET and WICU newscasts pontificating re: Mario Bagnoni's death and legacy. And then there's his involvement on community boards like C-Cubed, The Erie Historical Society... This list is long and his continued involvement is shameful. Meanwhile, Mercyhurst burns. And people and institutions suffer in his wake. What has Garvey said to you folks by means of explanation? This story gets more and more bizarre by the day and I wonder how he can look you in the face? Is he, as someone online has suggested, psychopathic as well?
Forget all that lofty nonsense Garvey fed us about courage and honor. All those Greco-Roman platitudes. Unfortunately, the only Greco-Roman influence on Dr. William P. Garvey is now all too painfully and belatedly apparent. Forget all that crap he spouts about Winston Churchill. What does Garvey's moment of crisis tell us about Garvey? When his "finest hour" came, his defining moment, Garvey's actions defined him perfectly. He tucked his tail and ran. "Retired". A mere day after the appearance of this memo that ex-judge Palmisano felt "compelled" to write, and that according to Ms. Mosco, Garvey never saw. A coincidence? Hmmm. A most "compelling" coincidence. Garvey has hidden behind the trust of the Sisters of Mercy (for Christ's sake), the skirt of Marlene Mosco, the good faith of those who have supported him, and a wall of all-too-telling silence to a host of unanswered questions that are too compelling to ignore, or skirt.
In the end, despite all the posing, lofty aphorisms, and quotes, William Garvey is simply an abuser, manipulator, and sexual predator of boys. A wolf in college president's clothing. In his own words, he is a gutless wonder, a coward, and perhaps most telling of all, a quitter. A quitter of the first order. Will he ever stand up and be a man? ("Drop your pants, bend over, and grab your ankles, Dr. Garvey. Raps or laps?") Men face the responsibilities and consequences of their actions. At least men of honor do. That's what Garvey always told us. It's time for Garvey to stand on his own two feet. Time to admit what he has done and apologize to his victims. All of us. If Garvey does not have the honor, the courage, or the guts to face the truth, why do others continue to run interference for him?
It was all merely an act, a great Greco-Roman act, to get into little boys' pants. Is that what Garvey meant by "Carpe diem"? Seize the day? How does one say "seize the boy"?
predafile@hotmail.com
