A letter to the Editor:

“Dear students, faculty and administrators: 

I have opined previously in The Griffin about the state of Canisius athletics a few years ago when it became obvious that referring to the athletic program as a ‘Division I’ level program was a gross misrepresentation. I admit that at age 73 I can consider myself a dinosaur in following Canisius athletics – most prominently, the men’s basketball program. To briefly reminisce, I observed our men’s team back in the 1960’s and 1970’s to be on par with and defeat the likes of Syracuse, Michigan State, Providence etc. I could go on . . . but after over 50 years of being a patron, both as a fan and an alumnus, the current state of affairs is unbearable. 

As of this writing the men’s program is 0 for 14 and it doesn’t look like it will be getting better. In my last letter I spoke of the lack of financial ability to compete at our current level or even in our conference, the MAAC, which is not a higher level conference. I suggested, as I do now, that we should enter the Patriot Conference, which is a Division I, non-scholarship academic oriented conference with the likes of highly academic schools like Lehigh and Bucknell. Holy Cross College is a member, and if you recall, was an original member of the MAAC. Like Canisius, Holy Cross is a small Jesuit college, and also like Canisius, has a storied basketball history. (Remember Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn?) Yet, they realized that in today’s college basketball climate, especially financially, they could not compete at the level it had in previous years and joined the Patriot Conference. Loyola of Maryland, also a small Jesuit school and a prior MAAC member, also left the MAAC for the Patriot League for similar reasons. 

Now it’s the time for Canisius to do the same. With both the men’s and women’s basketball programs as of this writing having a combined record of 1 win and 26 losses, I think the argument can be made for this change. Us alumni are tired of this disappointment year after year which never gets better but worse and embarrassing.” 

– Carmen Gentile, Canisius Class of 1973