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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We had a son apply to several schools a couple years ago including Georgetown Prep. Our son wound up at another prep. Our experience at Prep was horrible. Our son plays lacrosse, but was not their recruited kid. Our son did meet with Kevin Giblin and he referred our son to speak some more to other coaches on his lacrosse staff, and at a summer camp our son also met Dan Paro who was the Athletic Director. We didn't think much of that but for gaining some knowledge about the school and our son didn't need any favoritism to get in.

What happened next was really disturbing. When we submitted the application, the admissions director immediately suggested that we not schedule an interview and also said he would refund the application fee. We were stunned and my husband wrote to Brian Gilbert. His response railed all over the place about how inappropriate it was to work outside of the admissions office for an applicant. I went straight to Georgetown Prep to ask to speak to him about it, and he would not meet me. I met with Dan Paro in the building across the way to ask what we had done wrong and he seemed pretty stunned too.

Since then Giblin soon left Georgetown Prep, and we have heard plenty of inside stories about his clashes with administrators and the admissions director. It is quite possible my son or a few kids like my son got caught in the cross fire of this internal dysfunction. Hopefully for Georgetown Prep this was a short term blip in the way they handled our son's application interest and with Giblin gone that does not repeat itself. That said, I have never come across anyone in business or other adult life less professional than Brian Gilbert. Our son was treated as a lacrosse kid and they just didn't want any more of those. Considering he is not a star player, part of me used to wish he never played that card with Georgetown Prep but the better part of me is thankful he did so we learned how seriously dysfunctional the culture of this school is.[/quote]

Interesting post. And knowing the cast of characters like I do, I think your son was, in fact, caught in a crossfire between two warring factions at the school.

Although most parents never see it clearly, all schools have their internal feuds, disagreements, jealousies, turf battles and struggles for power, prestige and resources. Without a strong, involved leader --- or with a leadership vacuum -- - the tensions and disagreements. between these group grows. There's a famous quote about the behavior of people and groups on all campuses. William Sayre said: "Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low."

Kevin Giblin grew the Prep lacrosse program from a very low-level into a nationally-recognized program and had to fight for resources and attention every year. Because he was never on the full-time staff at GP and because he was such a strong personality, he ruffled quite a few feathers and he had strong detractors and strong supporters. Several times   --- in these pitched battles over Admissions or use of fields or Financial Aid or coaches salaries --- he threatened to quit or actually did resign. Because the lacrosse program was so valuable to the school as a source of highly-qualified, full-paying students, he was coaxed back. This last time it played out differently. Giblin resigned. The new president scheduled a meeting with him to change his mind. But then that meeting was cancelled.

The new lacrosse coach is not going to have the same approach or the same support as Giblin had. You can expect to see Prep lacrosse come back to the middle of the IAC pack in a few years as support from Admissions and the athletic department dwindles. Giblin as a force of nature is irreplaceable. And football will return to being king at Prep as it was previously. The Athletic Director is the head football coach also and it'll be football players or multi-sport athletes that get support from the Athletic Department..

The root problem in all of this is that the pie at Prep is smaller and the Admissions Office ends up being at the friction point of all the requests from the various factions. Fr, George's generosity with faculty salaries and the outrageous and out-of-scale facilities expansion effort has left Prep with significant financial problems that affect day-to-day operations and policies. That's why the school expanded from 400-435 boys to 500. They need the tuition revenue. That's why you see more than a few non-Catholics there. That's why tuition has moved up into the stratosphere forcing some to look at lower cost alternatives like Gonzaga and St John's.

It's a great place to go to high school. For some its even idyllic. But its not for everyone.

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