The Cardinal Gibbons School

Newly designed reversible jersey coming soon. We will be taken orders soon. Go to our Alumni Sports page for more updates.

Looking for photos from Class of 87 and Brandon Cole for his wife. Please post under here or inbox. Thank You

A lot of legend legends in this pictures.

Photo courtesy of

OK Brothers trying to track down Restivo ('71)

Damn you, Dave Etheridge,

As Jack Nicholson (JN) said in Terms of Endearment, “ I almost made a clean getaway and then you pulled me back in.”. Although JN is not the greatest role model for anything but devotion to his art, his characters’ quotes will serve me well as I vent herein.
I, as a former Board Member of Cardinal Gibbons, have almost come to grips with the fact that it was closed during my time on the Board. I was resigned to the reality that having my class ring re-sized and worn since March 2010 is no longer a political statement. That the realization that young people from my old neighborhood of SW Baltimore will have a more difficult time escaping the life cycle we know exists there. That my children and grandchildren are blessed to be in better circumstances. Just when the pain of not living up to the solemn duty delegated to me as a Board member or to the example set by Jonathan Smith (Board Chair) or Brother Kevin, this happened. Jon worked so hard, I offered my resignation because I felt I was not working as hard as him for the School.
Recently, I had lunch with a Gibbons Alum/classmate, the Founder of the Red Guard, Rick Slaughter, who has since passed from prostate cancer. While scheduling the lunch I came across the name Dave Etheridge, another former Board Member, but one I had never met. Long story short, Dave had left a cryptic message on a Gibbons web page or Facebook about information he had on our history. This drew my interest because we are working with St. Agnes regarding a “Walk of Remembrance” on our campus.
I met Dave at his home in Salisbury and he entrusted me with his copy of a doctorate candidate’s graduate thesis from the University of Notre Dame. The subject matter was the impact of St. Mary’s Industrial School (SMIS) on the City of Baltimore. I made a copy and returned it to Dave the next day. He had one restriction and one warning regarding the manuscript of more than 300 pages. The restriction was if we ever earned anything publishing the document, that it accrue to the author’s widow’s benefit. The warning was “Don’t start reading it unless you have a few hours because you will not be able to put it down.”.
He was right. He has now dragged me back in, just like JN, I thought I was making a clean getaway before this. Damn you Dave Etheridge and Bless you Dave Etheridge for keeping the flame alive.
The document traced SMIS to the time before its creation. The efforts were led by Catholic luminaries like Archbishops Curley & Spalding and Cardinal Gibbons. It was built through the extraordinary efforts of Xaverian Brothers Vincent, Paul, and Julian. Finally, it was made possible by the Catholic laity like the McTavish family and the gift of the grounds now occupied by St. Agnes, Gibbons and Seton-Keough.
I would be remiss if I did not note the role of Catholics in the City of Baltimore in the years 1850-1880. I have spent almost my entire life connected with or impacted by Catholic institutions- St Benedict’s, Gibbons (SMIS), St. Agnes Hospital, House of Good Shepard, Spalding , St. Mark’s, Bon Secours, St. Joseph Hospital, St. Louis School, Mt. St. Joe, St. Margret’s, and John Carroll. The origins of most of these institutions can be traced back to the 1850 to 1880 period. Most still stand as pillars of their respective communities or fields.
I mention all of the above because I had to admit to Dave that I only put a few hours into the reading before flipping to the end to read about the closing of SMIS. The only way to do it justice is to quote exactly from the paper.
Page 305—“Research has failed to adduce an intelligent explanation from the closing of St Mary’s. Certain questions remain unanswered: Why was no pronounced attempt made to arouse public support through the public press which had championed the school in 1919 and 1920, following the fire? Why was the archdiocesan paper, The Catholic Review, silent with reference to the impending closing?
Why was a public which had heaped tribute on St Mary’s suddenly indifferent to its closing? Why did the archdiocesan clergy, who, in persons such as Archbishop Spalding, Mon. McColgan, Cardinal Gibbons, Bishop Corrigan, Bishop Ireton, and Archbishop Curley, had devoted personal effort and enthusiasm to building St Mary’s, fail to seek the help of catholic laity and of public opinion?..... To conclude positively, St Mary’s now a history and a memory, stands as a tribute to the clergy, the laity and the Brothers who gave to more than 20,000 boys the opportunity to develop the means for the improvement of society and the salvation of their souls. Here was an institution in which church and state respected the rights proper to each other, worked harmoniously to carry out responsibilities which society had shirked.” Cyril Marcel Witte, 1955
Much the same could have been said in 2010 (Gibbons closure) and again this year(Seton/Keough).
So that’s the truth and why dredge up the closings of SMIS and Gibbons again? The answer necessitates my next JN quote— “You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth.” Or can you?
Where are the religious leaders the likes of Curley, Gibbons, Spalding etc.?
Where are the religious leaders like those of the 1960’s that saw a need and responded with opening Archbishop Curley, Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop Keough (Seton Keough), John Carroll and Martin Spalding all in the same decade?
What has changed? The need or the view from the AOB?
Be it physical health, educational, or community service, are we serving those that need it or just those that can afford it?
While my classmates of ’68 are completing their wealth-accumulation phase of their lives, as opposed to many of the MSJ, Loyola and Calvert Hall alums that are well into their wealth-distribution phase, where is the concern and guidance for the young people that Gibbons and Seton-Keough used to serve?
Where are those who are rightfully upset at what has been presented recently in “The Keepers”?
Where are those who will defend, support and praise those not mentioned in “The Keepers”, who educated, coached and mentored us appropriately? The Xaverian, Marianist and Christian Brothers, the School Sisters of Notre Dame and the lay teachers/staff that meant so much to our life experiences and successes.
So, what now? I’ll tell you what now. Get off your complaining ass and do something about it. We need to take charge of the facilities at our closed campuses for the good of those left out and abandoned by the closings. We need to structure a community education program to help not just the children trapped and abandoned in SW Baltimore but real-life skill training for the parents as well. Everything we have been able to accumulate in our collective knowledge bases needs to be ‘transferred’ to those that need it the most. Knowledge and life experiences are invaluable and the consequences of their absence are evident on the streets of Baltimore and in shows like The Keepers. The physical facilities can be used for creation or expansion of any and all programs from GED-type, to tutoring and life skills education.
We need structure, we need freedom, we need support, we need to be on our own, we need to be able to speak and we need to be able to listen and hear. We just need to be a community again. We need to serve those who need us, like the 20,000 that were served by St. Mary’s Industrial School or the 4,000+ graduates from Gibbons or the thousands at Seton-Keough and our other closed schools.
We need the AOB to jump start the new beginnings on the Gibbons Keough site by giving us access and initial support and then we need them to get out of the way.
There does not seen to be that visionary personality at the AOB that in the 1860’s created such a catholic presence in healthcare and child welfare or in the 1960’s that saw the need and built 5 catholic high schools within the decade.
That brings me to the last JN quote—“…you make me want to be a better man.”. Give us the opportunity to be better and help those that need it to be better.
The campus could once again be a beacon for hope and one may begin to think that the sunrises in the Southwest.
This could just be the last best chance to do the right thing in SW Baltimore.

Jeff ONeill Jeff Choyce Brian McManus David Rauser Buddy Buscemi Chris Madoo Chris Bresnan Christopher Younger Linda Bertrand Payne Kelli Riggins Nitsch Maxx Anderson Eric Garvin Mike Conway Mike Driscoll Thomas Kessler Dean McNaney Dean Hudson Douglas Cash Jr. Staci Hunt Henry Michele Hunt

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The 80's Reunion is ON!!!

Saturday, August 20th 7p -11p @ Arbutus Town Hall.

This is open to all graduates of Cardinal Gibbons High School and our sister school, Keough. The event is being sponsored by the Class of 1986, but it is open to all alumni.

There will be beer, soda & light fare. BYOB.

Music by 80's band One Eyed Pug & DJ Gianni.

Tickets are $30 person. Faculty are $15.

For tickets email: [email protected]

Let's make this a great night brothers!!!

SAVE THE DATE!!!! Saturday, August 20th 7p -11p

The Class of 1986 will be hosting an "80's" reunion. If you graduated from Gibbons or Keogh at any time in the 80's we want to see you.

Stay tuned for more details. Mark the calendar & makes plans to be in the old neighborhood on 8/20/16.

Gentlemen, one of our brothers, David Stark is fighting hard. He was in a very tragic car accident during the past two days.

God bless Dave and may Gods blessings reign down upon him durring his time of need.

James Cardinal
Gibbons:
Pray for us!

Live Jesus in our hearts:

FOREVER!