Page 33 - Gonzaga at 60
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in the value of ‘a Gonzaga educaion’. It is also a tribute to the commitment and energy of, in Clockwise from top
paricular, Fr Dermot Murray and Patrick Pots, and the members of successive Boards and their left: New library during
construction; library after
Chairpersons. Kevin Whirdy, too, shouldered the huge burden of overseeing compleion of the construction; the new
most recent building phase in his irst two years as Headmaster. computer room; the new
But what of the original founding intenions? The vision of a unique educaion, even in canteen
Jesuit terms?
THE ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVE
If the original plan to lay emphasis on Lain and Greek and to free students from the
constraints of the Leaving Ceriicate, with its potenial for pre-packaged thinking and prepared
answers – ‘pseudo educaion’, Fr Bill Lee calls it – was Fr Charles O’Conor’s, it was let to Fr Joe
1
Veale to deine ‘an educaional philosophy behind the plan’ . This is enshrined in his extraordinary
Prospectus for Gonzaga and the Sixth Year experiment. It is an eloquent statement of profound
educaional purpose. It is steeped in the idealism and fervour (both intellectual and Chrisian)
1. Remembering Joe Veale, Ross Geoghegan 2002. Ross Geoghegan was both student and lifelong friend of
Fr Veale.
paricular, Fr Dermot Murray and Patrick Pots, and the members of successive Boards and their left: New library during
construction; library after
Chairpersons. Kevin Whirdy, too, shouldered the huge burden of overseeing compleion of the construction; the new
most recent building phase in his irst two years as Headmaster. computer room; the new
But what of the original founding intenions? The vision of a unique educaion, even in canteen
Jesuit terms?
THE ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVE
If the original plan to lay emphasis on Lain and Greek and to free students from the
constraints of the Leaving Ceriicate, with its potenial for pre-packaged thinking and prepared
answers – ‘pseudo educaion’, Fr Bill Lee calls it – was Fr Charles O’Conor’s, it was let to Fr Joe
1
Veale to deine ‘an educaional philosophy behind the plan’ . This is enshrined in his extraordinary
Prospectus for Gonzaga and the Sixth Year experiment. It is an eloquent statement of profound
educaional purpose. It is steeped in the idealism and fervour (both intellectual and Chrisian)
1. Remembering Joe Veale, Ross Geoghegan 2002. Ross Geoghegan was both student and lifelong friend of
Fr Veale.
