Alumni

A message from the president

John Tonzola is a classmate, teammate, friend and mentor.  Delbarton School and its alumni association have been made immeasurably stronger by John.  The archway is a symbol of Delbarton’s strength, and the Alumni Association is a large stone supporting the keystone.  And as we know, the archway gains its strength from pressure that binds the stones. John constantly challenged himself and all of us to improve the Alumni Association and Delbarton.  His challenges created pressure that strengthened the bond of this community. I could not do justice to John’s impact over the last decade, but I will point to a few achievements. In 2012, John took the alumni board lead on the Succisa Virescit Challenge ($500k to $1mm).  John was a member of every Alumni Golf Classic and Shooting Classic Host Committee. And if you are wondering, he was an ACTIVE member of those committees. John conceived and executed the Roundtable dinners that were held post financial crisis to engage alums in discussions of the schools goals and needs.  John formed the Alumni Campaign Committee for the school’s current campaign which led to the Can Do Campaigns executed by classes like ’89, ’90 and ’91 among others. John expanded alumni engagement through the committee structure, and I believe his most important contribution has been achieving alumni representation on the Lay Board of trustees.  These are groundbreaking achievements. I am grateful for your friendship, and we are all grateful for your leadership. Thank you, John.

Why am I here?

I am here tonight, eagerly accepting the challenge of leading this organization, because I believe Delbarton is a beacon to the broader community representing leadership with grace and empathy and the positive impact academic, social and economic mobility have on our society.  Steve Case has said about the state of American education, “Creativity is distributed broadly, opportunity is not.” I arrived at Delbarton as a public school kid from a blue collar family, and Delbarton greatly expanded my horizon. My education and the opportunities I was afforded have enriched my life and enabled me to help others.

I have a reservoir of gratitude for Delbarton, and while I “giveback” it’s less repayment of a debt, and more of a desire to help Delbarton enrich the lives of many more generations and create the leaders, the spiritual guides and the innovators that our society needs.  

What are we going to do to together over the next two years?  

We are going to expand upon the things we do well.

Mentorship – As the monastery decreases in size, and the alumni association grows, alums have taken more responsibility as Delbarton’s culture carriers.  The number of alums teaching is increasing. Alums are sharing their talents with current students through DelEx, special classroom lectures and Career Day.  Alums are actively exposing students to our rich tapestry of cultural, academic and professional diversity and expanding the horizons of Delbarton students.

Missionaries – As more and more alums settle locally, your intellect, morality and leadership in your communities is attracting the attention of our best applicants.  Remember, creativity/ability is broadly distributed.

Financial support – We all know Delbarton is an outlier among peer schools in terms of Annual Fund participation, and the current campaign was jumpstarted by alums and the Can Do campaign.  Our continued financial support will ensure that every qualified student can attend . . . opportunity must be broadly distributed.

Building next generation – Your brotherly support of younger alums is developing the next generation of alumni leaders.  On a daily basis, a young alum gets a leg up because of your willingness to help, even if it’s just sharing an insight or kind word.

And we are going to have some new roles as we welcome Father Michael as Headmaster.

Father Michael expressed a beautiful perspective earlier this year during the Abbot Giles Shooting event when he said that we, alumni, are Abbot Giles’ monument.  I believe we are also Br Paul’s. I believe we will continue to be.

But monuments stand still, so we need to be two things at once.  Like St Ignatius Loyola’s Jesuits, we must become Father Michael’s Soldiers of Christ.  We will stand ready for his call.

Any one of us would take up the shield and lead this outfit . . . I am the fortunate one this evening.  

As the famous Roman Counsel, Joe Ferraro ’95, would say . . . “enough with the speech . . . bring us bread and circuses.”  Let's enjoy the food, the spirits and the evening. Thank you.

Tim Fitzsimmons '95
President, Delbarton Alumni Association

Previous Remarks

-Winter 2019 Class Reps Dinner Remarks
-Fall 2018 Class Reps Dinner Remarks
-Fall 2017 Class Reps Dinner Remarks
-Winter 2018 Class Reps' Dinner Remarks
-Hall of Honor 2017 Remarks
-Pig Roast 2017 Remarks
-Winter 2017 Class Reps' Dinner Remarks
-Pig Roast 2016 Remarks
-Fall 2016 Class Reps' Dinner Remarks
-Hall of Honor 2016 Remarks
-Remarks regarding Peter Ramsey '90

DELBARTON HALL OF HONOR MEMBERS

Delbarton alumni association regional clubs

boston

Ken Krilla '90 - Kkrilla@yahoo.com 

Derek Maguire '90 - dmaguire02@gmail.com

Mitch Syp '95 - kkrilla1@yahoo.com

chicago

John Glynn '90 - jpglynn@gmail.com

Washington DC

Taylor Price '04 - tprice0826@gmail.com

Tim Curry '95 - timothy_Curry@hotmail.com

Dave Yampolsky '00 - david.yampolsky@gmail.com

Hoboken

John Ferramosca '05 - jferra09@gmail.com

Jersey Shore

Brian Hanlon '87 - brianmhanlon@gmail.com

Perry Beneduce '74 - perry@exceden.com

Texas

Dan McCullough '95 - damonmcc1391@gmail.com

bay area

Harold Ehrmann '87 -  H@elixirSF.com

Chris Heimers '03 - heimers.chris@gmail.com

los angeles

Joe Grano '03 - joseph.grano@gmail.com

Bryan Cuthbert '99 - cuttycuthbert@gmail.com

Thank you for being transformative!

The 2018-2019 fiscal year closed on June 30, and once again Delbarton's alumni have affirmed their tradition of giving. Thank you to the 1,831 alumni to make a gift to Delbarton this year, helping alumni raise a record $2.6 million and reach 36.16% participation! Special shout out to the 22 classes who exceeded the average with over 40% participation.

The education that Delbarton continues to provide every day to each new generation of young men would not be possible without your support.

On behalf of the monks, students, faculty, and staff, THANK YOU!

Look for more details in the 2018-2019 giving year in the upcoming Annual Report.

And join us as we celebrate the year at the Summer Sizzler at the Belmar Fishing Club on July 27 from 5-8 p.m. We will recognize all Delbarton Fund donors that evening. RSVP to Heidi at hwilliamson@delbarton.org.

Congratulations to this year's alumni award winners.

The Class of 1948 Headmaster's Cup

Class of 2008

80.87% participation

Class of 1948 Emeritus Winners

100% participation

Rev. Kenneth Mayer, O.S.B., Award

Class of 2008

93 donors

Alumni Achievement Award

Class of 2003

Increase of 9 donors

Green Wave Madness Winners

Class of 2018

35.11% participation by April 8

For a full list of donors click HERE.