John P. McCarthy Jr.
By KELLY RUST
On April 1, 2000, John P. McCarthy Jr. lost his battle with cancer. The 56 year-old father of six, retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant, coach and friend was born in Arlington, Va. in 1943. He served two tours in the Vietnam War and retired from the Navy in 1993. He coached softball at Salem High for seven years. Until head coach Larry bowman retired from coaching, McCarthy asked long-time friend and Virginia Wesleyan softball coach Conrad Parker if he needed any help at Virginia Wesleyan.
"He wanted to know if I needed a volunteer coach and I said certainly if I can get it," said Parker. "That's when he came aboard to help us out. Coach McCarthy loved the game and helping young ladies."
"I remember the first day that I saw him," said junior Kristin Leake. "He was in the bookstore buying every single thing with softball on it." Not only did Coach McCarthy have all the VWC softball apparel, but the license plate of his green Ford pick-up truck read "VWSftball." His spirit and love for the game was something the all could feel.
"He reminded us that the reason we were out there is because we loved it and it's supposed to be fun," said junior Heidi Hill. "He wasn't just there as a coach, but as a friend first, a father figure second and finally a coach. I know that anyone of us could go to him with a problem. He was there for us in any situation." As any member of a team, Coach McCarthy added and contributed in many ways. He was a soft spoken gentle man, but his style of coaching was unique to the game, and he was respected by his players.
He would do anything to help with softball. On road trips he would be behind the wheel of the second van, telling stories and cracking jokes. "I remember one time in the vans, he woudn't let this guy over," said junior Stacy Zielinski. "He gave the guy the finger and floored it. It was the funniest thing that I ever saw." Though he was a volunteer, Coach McCarthy would never miss a practice. He worked closely with the outfield by hitting balls to the outfield. "He could tell when we were getting tired of fly balls," said junior Alyson Mazur. "So he would come out to center field and pretend to talk about strategies as we just watched the infield. He would always say, ‘how many fly balls can you possibly practice catching? Everyone knows how to catch a fly ball.’ He made me laugh."
Before games he would soft-toss to the players and then take a stroll to the first base coaching box. "I remember during soft-toss his plumber butt would stick out," said senior Samantha Green. "And I would always tell him to pull up his pants, but he would just pull up the front of them. I just couldn’t understand how a man that skinny could have a butt that big. Not like I was staring at his butt-- it was just funny."
"I would give up a double to stop at first base to talk to him, said junior Kristen Leake. "He always had a joke or something encouraging to say no matter how bad you thought you did." "His relaxing, calm demeanor and sense of raw humor helped every player with stressful game situations," said senior Nancy Mattox. In center field hangs a permanent sign, under a flag at half mast, that reads: "In Loving Memory John P. McCarthy, your love of the game is what keeps us going."
The team will also be wearing black bands the rest of the year on their jerseys in honor of him. "Mr. McCarthy gave us strength when we felt we could go no further and the heart and love to carry on," said junior Cristal Peters. "The most important thing he taught me was that life wasn’t going to be fair, but to have faith and love for what your doing. So now I have that life lesson to remind me, especially now, that with a handful of faith and a heart full of love, we can see ourselves through any troubles that threaten us along life’s path."
Campus security executed a traffic survey in the month of March to help increase awareness of drivers on campus. After dealing with an accident one month ago, as well as receiving several complaints from both students and staff members, Wesleyan security established a speed trap on Smith Drive to measure the speed of traffic on the road and issue warnings to those exceeding the 25 mph speed limit. "Joggers use that road, as well as our security bike patrols and maintenance golf carts," said Director of Security Richard Safford, "not to mention the slower moving construction traffic."
Safford's concern was emphasized on a slip of paper that each speeding car was issued, informing the driver that he/she was speeding, what the correct speed limit is and a warning that the next offense would result in a $25 fine. The survey was administered on Mar. 28 and 29, between the entrance of maintenance and the security booth on Smith Drive. Two reserve officers from Yorktown Naval Base, certified in such speed monitoring devices, aided in the exercise. Once a car was clocked for speeding, the driver was stopped at the security booth and given the warning. Offenders included a variety of students, faculty and staff. According to Safford, in a two hour period on Mar. 28 and a one hour period on Mar. 29, a total of 84 people were stopped for exceeding 30 mph.
"We don’t even have a place for ‘speeding’ on our parking tickets," said Safford, but did point out that there is a category for "unsafe driving" where speeding could be included. Although the majority of those stopped were surprised at their speed and agreed happily to slow down in the future, Safford explained that those drivers who were rude when warned tended to be those who exceeded the speed limit the most. According to Security’s records, the exercise was successful. "It has created a certain awareness," said Dean of Students David Buckingham, one of several Wesleyan joggers and drivers. "Another day we might do it again," warned Safford, "and next time the people will be fined." "The goal of Security is to keep this campus as safe as possible," he concluded.
The United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racism to place on March 24 and nobody showed up. The gala that went on all day takes place every year at Wesleyan since 1997. This year the event was co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Women’s Resource Center and the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom. This year also marked the beginning of a new organization on campus called the National Conference for Community and Justice, (NCCJ).
"The NCCJ is a combination of students," said Dr. Catherine Cookson, "from the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the student ambassadors from the center." The students worked hard to plan all the days events with the encouragement of Assistant Dean Linda Berry. The first event was a skit during lunch that was cancelled at the last minute. Next was the showing of two movies, "The Way Home" and "Tibet’s Stolen Child." Only four students came to watch the documentary on Tibet while no one showed up for the other film. "When no one showed up, it was an insult to everyone involved," said Tiffani Johnson, "and proves more work needs to be done to get awareness out." Following the movies at 3 p.m., the executive director of the Virginia NCCJ, Jeff Spence, was to give a racism workshop, but no students attended that either, prompting a cancellation until dinner, when he spoke to students from the Leadership Institute and faculty. The evening programs were "A Celebration of Women’s Voices" in the theater form 7-9 p.m. and a showing of American History X. The women’s voices program was a variety of monologues performed by students and faculty. This portion of the program was open to the public and well attended. It also served as a fund-raiser for RESPONSE, a local crisis center for victims of sexual assault.
The movie that followed, ended a rash of programs that were cancelled because of no student attendance. American History X is a controversial look at racism and anti-Semitism in America. According to Berry, the day was not as successful as they had hoped, partially because of the nice weather and also because it was a Friday afternoon. However, she does believe there was more to it than that. "VWC students are apathetic at best with ism’s," Berry said, "they think there is no racism, however that is the greatest danger of our country." The Office of Multicultural affairs will try and coordinate the elimination of racism day with international week next year and hold more of their budget for events in the fall. That way the important message of racism will reach more students.