alumni highlight
Tom Clasby
Class Year: 1995
Major: History
Alumni Board President
How did you end up attending Franciscan as a student?
It's kind of a funny story. A friend of mine was a Franciscan alum, and he invited me out for a summer conference. He kept saying to me, “Father Michael's going to speak and you should go listen to him”. And I said, “Well, who's Father Michael?” He said, “he's the President of the University!” Well, I never would go to a school so far from New England. I'm a New Englander. I love New England and didn't really have any thoughts about going to school outside of Massachusetts. So, I didn't go hear Father Mike speak, but the conference had a profound impact in my life. And when I returned home several months after that, I started thinking about schools and what I wanted to do, and I was discerning. Where would I end up? And I really felt, all of a sudden, called to come here and that grew strong within me.
What kind of student activities did you participate in when you were here?
I was in a club that a group of us formed called the Irish American Social Club. We had very strict rules of joining: you didn't have to be Irish American, nor social. We would pretty much take anybody! We played Irish music and brought in a lot of bands to perform, as well as student bands. And the primary thing that we did, and I think this may still be going on, was that we would pray the Rosary each night at 10:00 pm, and we would do it around the campus. It was a walking Rosary, and we would do it rain, shine, snow, sleet. We have an alum, now a priest, and back then oftentimes we would see him heading to his car as we were finishing up the Rosary. Years later he said to me, “that was so inspirational to me, after finishing my studies and leaving the library, I would see you guys walking and praying”. So we did that every night and in true Irish fashion, we would go have a couple of beers afterwards.
What did you study?
When I first came to Franciscan, I was studying theology and again, I was discerning. And then when I returned, I got my degree in history.
Did you have a favorite professor?
Well, I think all history majors loved Dr. Carrigg, who is legendary, and Professor Boyd, who became a very close, personal friend. I loved them both. I spent many hours laughing with both of them. And it was a New England connection because Father Dan Egan, who I believe was the first President here, and a great storyteller with them, was also from the Boston area.
Where are you now? What are you doing? Are you using history?
Yes, I am, in a way. The city that I come from, Quincy, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, is a very historic city, and the home of two presidents. It's also the home of John Hancock. So three presidents, in a sense, because John Hancock was the first President of the Continental Congress. So it's a very historic city! I work for the Mayor in the city of Quincy. I'm the Director of Elder Services. So much of what I learned here, not only my theology classes, my history classes, just the atmosphere of the school and applying Catholic social teaching, I utilize every day in dealing with the seniors in our community. And particularly those issues that are coming up now with this culture of death, I definitely use my training that I received here. The Catholic training.
In Massachusetts, we have a thing where every community is mandated to have what they call a Council on Aging. But the state doesn't really mandate what that is. So, it can be many different things. Most of the time, you run the Senior Center and other services connected with that. That would be my case. On one occasion, a video promoting assisted suicide was sent out. I emailed all the directors throughout the Commonwealth and said that I was opposed to it, and laid out why I was opposed. And I could not believe the measure of support I got from many other directors. I was very happy to have that support. So many of the clients thanked me for speaking up, which brought joy to my heart. Unfortunately, there's still a number of them in the business that don't support that. But we are really fortunate, our Mayor is a devout Catholic, which is a huge help.
How long have you been on the Alumni Board?
For ten years, and that's brought again another unique perspective. It’s been a real joy in my life to remain linked to the University and to see the changes from the 90s up until this point. Structural changes, with more majors and new endeavors being added. Franciscan is a University on the move and I'm very proud to be associated with it.