NATALIE SULLIVAN, Class of 2014 writes:
My name is Natalie Sullivan, and I am an alumnus of Manhattan College as well as the former editor-in-chief of the Quadrangle.
I am writing to express my disappointment in Manhattan College’s lack of response to the recent video of MC’s basketball coach, Steve Masiello, calling millennials a “fraudulent generation” who gets frustrated when things don’t go their way – much like Masiello did in this tantrum after losing to Siena.
When I saw this video posted to friends’ and fellow alumni’s Facebook walls, I was humiliated. As a student who was a senior when the Jaspers made it to the NCAA championship, when Masiello was found to have lied on his resume about his college education, I am truly astonished by Manhattan College’s lack of a suitable response to both, and as to why this PR nightmare is permitted to continue publicly embarrassing our school.
Masiello’s comments in this video are especially disturbing, having known and attended classes with some of the individuals that he coached who certainly were not given everything on a silver platter, and did not give up as soon as things did not go their way, as Masiello implied in his statement.
When I tell people that I got my degree from Manhattan College, I would like to hear about our world-class engineering program, or growing and thriving communications program, or our extensive community outreach. Instead, the first thing to come to many people’s mind are the incidents with our basketball coach.
I would like to remind Mr. Masiello that when he speaks in a public forum, he is the face of Manhattan College – both current students and alumni – whether he likes it or not. His opinions in this video do not reflect my own, and do not reflect the opinions of my beloved professors and fellow alumni of the school, and yet this is the reputation that has been forced upon us and has now been written about and broadcast on national and global news networks.
As one of the highest paid staff on Manhattan College’s payroll, Mr. Masiello should feel obligated to represent the quality education offered by our school, and vouch for the great character that I know to be true of the students and staff at Manhattan College, instead of publicly bashing us and accusing us of being fraudulent.