Spellman students inducted into National Honor Society
(Above, fi rst row, l-r): Rudy Etzel, Aliscia Johns, Caleb Mouzon, Brianna Iglesias, Kasey Middleton, Arielle Ramirez, and Alex Dasent. (Second row, l-r):
assistant principals Kyle O’Donnell and Maria Piri, Rosaly Gutierrez, Ethan Butler, Jason Zheng, Adriana Balidemaj, Dasha’ Griffi ths, Chanda Forbes,
Jenny Nguyen, Alyssandra Almendral, and Daniel O’Keefe, president and principal. (Third row, l-r): Soraya Morales, Tiffany Cruz, Noreen Kelly, Taylor
Saglimbeni, Baylee O’Donnell, Emma Bucaj, Alexa Scaglione, Ashley Clarke, Shakinah Silverberg, and Collin Smith, assistant principal.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A 52 PRIL 19-25, 2019 BTR
Action
Association
Twenty-four students from
Cardinal Spellman High
School were inducted into the
Sequere Deum Chapter of the
National Honor Society last
month. Daniel O’Keefe, president
and principal, began the
ceremony with a prayer and
congratulated the students for
their academic achievements.
He reminded the new inductees
that they are role models
for the entire Spellman community.
Their success, said
O’Keefe, is a refl ection of the
values instilled in them at Cardinal
Spellman High School.
Trudy Keane, longtime moderator
of the National Honor
Society at Spellman, cited the
dedication and leadership of
the current National Honor
Society members, and said
that the achievements of the 24
new students were due to their
commitment to the four attributes
required of acceptance
into the National Honor Society:
scholarship, character,
leadership, and service. Another
feature of membership
is Faith in God, as evidenced
by the name of the Spellman
Chapter, Sequere Deum – Follow
God. Keane noted how all
these students brought honor
to their parents, community
and school.
The current co-presidents
of the National Honor Society,
Kelvin Angeles, Massiel
Javier, Emmanuel Olugbeko
and Sidorela Zefi assisted with
the ceremony. Candles representing
the four attributes
were lighted, and as their families
looked on, the students
then received the National
Honor Society medallion. The
National Honor Society serves
as a refl ection on one’s high
academic achievement as well
as recognition of strong character,
good citizenship, and
service to others. Membership
in the elite and prestigious organization
is recognized by
colleges around the nation.
Following the ceremony, a reception
was held in the school
cafeteria for the new members,
their families, school administrators,
and faculty.
BY FRANK V. VERNUCCIO, JR.
The familiar American political
landscape of Democrats
and Republicans, liberals and
conservatives has been dramatically
altered. Concepts
once considered completely
foreign and unacceptable are
now openly and vigorously
competing in the marketplace
of ideas.
This newly empowered
radical movement consists of
socialists, environmental extremists,
and dissenters from
the Judeo-Christian ethic
that has essentially formed
the underpinnings of western
thought. Although disparate
in many of their beliefs,
they share a common enmity
for American culture, the U.S.
Constitution, and free enterprise.
This unites them, at
least until the existing order is
overturned. They also have in
common a particular disdain
for the First Amendment, and
the rejection of the supremacy
of facts over ideology.
A hallmark of the radical
left is a constant trend to censor
and outcast any comment
they disagree with. Their
infl uence is not to be taken
lightly, and their success rate
is alarming.
This was rather dramatically
illustrated recently by
separate incidents affecting
conservative commentator
Jeanine Pirro and Chelsea
Clinton, the liberal daughter
of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Pirro questioned whether
Rep. Ilhan Omar, (D-Minn.),
who has made aggressively
anti-Semitic comments and
has also accused the U.S.
of planning a coup in Venezuela,
placed her personal
beliefs above the Constitution,
allegedly symbolized by
her clothing. Her FOX program
was subsequently suspended.
Clinton’s comments were
so innocuous as to seem not
even worthy of attention.
While attending a vigil for the
Muslims killed at a New Zealand
Mosque, the former First
Daughter was sharply criticized
and absurdly accused
of being the cause of the massacre
simply because she disagreed
with an anti-Semitic
tweet by the same Rep. Omar.
The fact that a commentator
was suspended for merely
raising a question is noteworthy,
another example in a
growing list of successful censorship
activities engineered
by a vigorous radical left. The
fact that many students agreed
with the criticism of Clinton is
indicative of the success that
the left’s anti-fact drive has
enjoyed.
The radicals also differ
from traditional politics in
their condonation and actual
employment of force and the
threat of violence, particularly
in their assault on the
First Amendment. Conservative
commentator Tucker Carlson’s
home was assaulted by an
ANTIFA mob, a group which
is, essentially, the equivalent
of the Nazi (National Socialist)
Party’s ‘Brownshirts’ who
terrorized Jews and other dissenters
of Hitler’s rise to absolute
power. A Breitbart study
described over 600 acts of violence
against Trump supporters.
Reports of individuals
being assaulted for merely
wearing a ‘Make America
Great Again’ cap are a regular
occurrence.
Universities are a key
power center of the radical
left. The descent of American
colleges was fi rst signifi cantly
noted in 1987, when author Allan
Bloom published his landmark
book, “The closing of
the American Mind.” He reported
that the curriculum rejected
rationality and reality.
The situation has since grown
worse.
Throughout the nation,
professors, students, and
guest speakers alike who challenge
the leftist orthodoxy are
harassed and marginalized.
Insane policies that defy the
very foundation of the First
Amendment have been enacted
to prevent the free exchange
of ideas. Political correctness—
which in practice
can include the rejection of
anything that challenges left
wing biases—has replaced
open discourse.
Clear examples of an increasingly
totalitarian bent
can be seen in the treatment
of teachers and guest lecturers
who refuse to kowtow to
the Leftist academic establishment.
The radical’s anti-fact emphasis
has attained sacredcow
status. Environmental
extremists insist that there
is no dissent from the manman
climate change mantra.
Completely ignored are the
31,072 American scientists, including
9,029 with PhD’s, who
signed a petition opposing the
views of those who claim human
factors have altered the
climate. Yet anyone even acknowledging
contrary views
is labelled a “denier” with the
same hostile vigor reserved
for alleged heretics during the
Inquisition, despite clear example
of intentionally altered
data.
The push to employ the
same socialist policies that
have consistently failed in nations
as diverse as the Soviet
Union, East Germany, North
Korea and Venezuela is in and
of itself a clear example of the
Radical’s rejection of facts.
The unprecedented mainstreaming
of violence, suppression
of free speech, and
the rejection of facts is a dangerous
new reality in American
politics can no longer be
ignored.