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Recruited, now he recruits
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
When Michael Finnegan, director of software development for the Wilmington-based LabWare Inc., heard the Archdiocese of Philadelphia planned to shut down Roman Catholic High School in 1986, he thought it was a done deal.
At the time, the 1975 Roman graduate was not actively involved with the school’s alumni association. He was concentrating on his upcoming graduation from Drexel University’s School of Engineering and his future marriage.
Roman didn’t close, of course, thanks to strong support from the alumni, as well as the Cahill Trust, which technically owns the building. But the school’s reprieve came at a price. Roman had to recruit 250 freshmen. It was given permission to recruit the students from anywhere it wished, but it lost its mandated feeder parishes, many of which were in neighborhoods with a declining Catholic population. Thanks to generous financial support from more than 10,000 alumni, Roman was able to meet its goal that initial year.
Finnegan credits the school’s continued success to good business sense. “Whether it’s a corporation or a school, in both cases there is a board that exercises good, ethical business practices,” he said. “After you get things going, you develop long-term goals. You maintain what you have, you please your customers, in this case alumni and students, and you develop a sense of where you are going.”
The successful Roman model of open enrollment and the division of the offices of president and principal have been universally copied, Finnegan notes.
He credits much of the vision for the future to the late Edward Graham, who, although not an alumnus was brought in as director of development. Graham realized that most of the key alumni involved in the initial phase of revitalizing the school were older, mostly from the 1940s to early 1950s. They deserved enormous credit, but he knew continuity had to be developed.
Graham consciously leapfrogged the next generation to concentrate on recruiting leadership from Finnegan’s era. While their graduating classes were smaller, those grads were at an age to give effective service for years to come.
Finnegan was one of those recruited by Graham. After years of service in various offices and committees, he stepped down as alumni president this past January.
Now, he says, it is time for the graduates from the 1980s and 1990s to take up the cause.
Raised in the former St. Stephen Parish, Finnegan and his wife, Susan, now live in St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother Parish in Avondale, where his is parish representative for the Catholic Charities Appeal and runs a huge youth soccer league.
“Many people lead a good life, but you have to dedicate yourself to something,” he said. “The fundamental ideals of the Catholic Church are good, and I see it in our parish. I see how much our pastor does — I see the dedication and want to be part of it. My children go to church every Sunday, and hopefully, will continue to do so. It’s a nice foundation.”
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.