It Was Worth It

Walking across the Quad, I noticed that refreshing coolness that teases about autumn’s coming. Reconvened from summertime agendas, students began to seep out of classrooms and the library. Freshmen, coeds, accounting majors, Greeks – they formed kaleidoscopic designs as they laughed around benches. Surrounded by their flagrant exhibition of youth, I began to feel old.

Thankfully I caught sight of the man who could best help me through my nostalgia – Brother Anthony Frederick. His tender face and lined hands honored the five decades he spent giving the best of himself to more than 10,000 students of English.

Serving as department chairman from 1937-1961 and dean of Arts and Sciences from 1961 to 1964, “Brother Fred” was named a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor in 1973 and bestowed the extraordinary rank of University Professor in 1977. After earning a listing in Who’s Who in America, Brother ended his teaching career in 1978, being recognized as St. Mary’s first Professor Emeritus.

Countless academic honors. Unsurpassable professional accolades. No – what drove him was, precisely, new Septembers.

It was being about the recreation of a pulsing fabric of students, scholars and staff as it renews its very textures and hues. It was the playful camaraderie that fills the hallways and footpaths of a campus called home. It was the undeniable spirit of family that affirmed a university’s mission.

It was the student who stopped by for a chat, the alum who sought him out at Oyster Bake.

And now, it was all those memories that brought the faintest of smiles to light up his sweet, tired eyes.

What it was, was worth it!

Brother Anthony Frederick, S.M., died July 20, 1986, at the age of 87. He was a Marianist for 69 years.