Letter: An Autistic Man’s Perspective on the Moral/Ethical Drawbacks of the Trinity Hall School Project

The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:


This essay is intended for those opposed to the Trinity Hall project. It is for those who can just feel “in their guts” that there is something ethically fishy about this whole thing, but who might have difficulty putting an articulate finger on it. Because I live on Sleepy Hollow road and would be drastically affected by the traffic nightmare that would be unleashed by Trinity Hall, I feel that this warrants me the right to comment on the overall issue of this impending fiasco. Since many others have already commented on the traffic and the blatant destruction of one of the few remaining gems of rural land in this area I will, instead, give my opinion on the moral and ethical foundations of the Trinity Hall project. If there is any one word that would sum up this` moral/ethical premise it would be “disingenuous.”

This disingenuousness has played out a number of times in the newspapers where, sometimes even in the same paper, there are articles about the terrible financial state of Catholic education found alongside puff pieces about Trinity Hall. One after another, Catholic schools ... REAL Catholic schools ... are closing because of inadequate funding. Parents and students are forced into do-or-die fund raising scenarios, practically becoming beggars to the general public. Because of Trinity Hall, the real Catholic Church, already trying hard to pay its bills, must now face the reality that a group of religious fakers could even make matters worse by siphoning off that much more money. The real Catholic Church is now sitting on acres of idyll school property, which could be pulled out of mothballs and made ready for true parochial education, for a fraction of the cost that would be required to deface one of the few remaining tracts of farmland in this whole area. The word that explains this paradox is the word “disingenuous”.

If those behind Trinity Hall were not disingenuous, they would come clean and just admit it that Trinity Hall does not really need the sanction of the real church because Trinity Hall is not intended for a real Catholic education. Trinity Hall is a country club finishing school for unsuspecting girls whose wealthy parents feel their daughters’ education must not be marred by the presents of kids of lower economic classes. Their educations must not be impeded by having to look at such ugly sights as highways and lower class neighborhoods, all of which they would be looking at if they accepted a school location provided by the real church. As well, a Trinity Hall girl’s education should not be impeded by the real Catholic Church’s pesky and obnoxious preoccupation with the poor and underprivileged. Of course, Trinity Hall will have to offer at least some scholarships to lower class girls, which means the campus will still have to tolerate the occasional Toyota wedged in between the Lexuses and Beemers.

So, how do disingenuous people latch on to the esteem of the Catholic Church? If you are a flim- flammer, you create a totally disingenuous marketing catch phrase such as... “in the Catholic tradition”. What “in the Catholic tradition” means is that it’s not really Catholic. It just looks Catholic for marketing purposes. If the Trinity Hall founders showed you a knock-off handbag that they got from Canal St., they would still expect you to swoon over it because, after all, it was made in the “Louis Vuitton tradition”.

Even though Bishop David O’Connell would not sanctioned Trinity Hall as a true Catholic institution, its origin certainly can be found in the Bible. It is the follow-up to the story of how Jesus purged the money changers from Herod’s temple. If you open the New Testament to John 2:13-16 you will see the following:

“And making a whip of cords, he [Jesus] drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade”.

It is important to note that both money changing and bird selling were legal practices, but they were considered disreputable. So, if you are a disreputable money-changer or bird seller and you want to deal inside the temple without having Jesus throw you out, what do you do? You do what the Trinity Hall people are trying to do right now. You build your own temple.

It is when fakers like these show themselves for what they are that the reality of their fakeness instills anger in those being manipulated. In the case of Trinity Hall it is the disparity between the lofty character and integrity building propaganda and the reality of their actual promotional technique. In the process of expediting its approval, the promoters of Trinity Hall have lied, manipulated, obfuscated, deceived, curried suspicious favor and otherwise produced a veritable cornucopia of soft-core fraudulence. The integrity of their technique now serves as the best testimony to their true character.

Trinity Hall, as I understand it, is mostly the creation of two families, whose mission is to create “designer education” for young girls, leaving no conscience obligation to consider anyone or anything. The Navesink/Chapel Hill area will be chronically gridlocked. Not their problem. The sewage system will be driven to over capacity. Not their problem. The environment will be permanently thrown out of kilter by this monstrosity. Not their problem. The quality of life in the entire area will be vastly diminished. Not their problem. Driving will increase on a road known to be deadly, thereby playing Russian roulette with the lives of citizens and students alike, but it’s not their problem.

By now the parents of Trinity Hall must be asking themselves, why is this particular piece of property so important? Why is this so important when, as cited by one of the school’s founders, there were twenty other locations (and all better suited) on which the school could be built? Why is this so important when the school’s construction could have been well under way by now, at one of these other locations? Why is this so important that it is being fervently and obsessively pursued in spite of a litany of dramatic drawbacks — dangerous and otherwise? As the founders have often replied, “we are committed to the address” and most importantly, “it was most convenient”.

The mothers and fathers of Trinity Hall need to have faith in their own daughters. They need to realize that in the end, their promising young women will flourish because of who they are, not because of where they are. This is something that has become horribly lost on the founders of Trinity Hall as their main goal now is to win a piece of property at all costs- even if that cost is the educational and spiritual well-being their own daughters. The school will be built by following a path of convenience and want, in lieu of walking in the footsteps of Christ.

If you want to know how a school should be established, you have to go no farther than the actions taken by Mater Dei High School. When they were notified that they were being closed due to lack of funds, within hours the students themselves organized the funding process to keep Mater Dei established. They then went to anyone who would listen ... friends, family, church officials, alumni and even total strangers to pitched their project. When whoever it was coined the expression “grass roots movement”, they could not possibly have been thinking of a situation better than this.

The Mater Dei students did everything from fundraisers, to “friend raisers”, to prayer meetings, and to anyone with half a chunk of faith, it looked as though God himself looked benevolently on their undertaking. Their success came from endless hours of hard work and the good will of legions of small people. Their combined efforts conveyed the unmistakable belief that the result was universally desired and their cause was undisputedly righteous.

Trinity Hall’s motto is probably what gives me the most reservations. On a large sign, fastened to the front of their current building, are the words... LEADERSHIP, RESPECT, PERSERVERENCE, FAITH. These are noble attributes to be sure, but we live every day with proof that there is no need whatsoever to destroy a neighborhood and the environment to get them. It is this proof that brings us right back to Mater Dei.

When Mater Dei students found that their school was going to be closed, it touched off a veritable explosion of leadership, respect, absolute perseverance and undisputable faith. I am sure that there is no sign on the front of Mater Dei that flaunts those words because none is needed. These words reverberate in the hearts and minds of every student at that school.

Trinity Hall’s motto simply highlights the impossible moral paradox it has created for itself: How do you build a school whose only real purpose is to flaunt how superior you are to everyone else, without losing the support that you must have from the same people who you just implied as inferior? You can’t. You can be as pushy and aggressive and sneaky and filthy rich as you want, and the peasants will still not support you. There is something else that you cannot do. Trinity Hall’s motto has the word “leadership” and the word “respect” and the word “perseverance” and the word “faith,” but the one word that is missing from this motto is the word “HONESTY”. You are not allowed to use this word. You do not deserve it.

Tony Sloan: peasant in revolt
Sleepy Hollow Rd., Middletown