Many students know him as the man who runs Physics lab with an iron fist, but this was not always the case.  Many do not know that Professor of Physics Victor Stanionis was once an undergraduate student at Iona College and former Editor-in-Chief of the Ionian from 1959-1960.

Stanionis was hired as an Iona faculty member at the young age of 22 and taught at Iona while gaining further experience, graduate degrees and eventually his PhD.

While he did not pursue a career in journalism, Stanionis still keeps his publishing ability alive by organizing and printing the Beechmont Bugle as he is currently President of the Beechmont Association.

The Ionian was afforded the opportunity to ask Stanionis questions about his time at Iona and the things he loves about this place. Iona of the 1950s and 1960s was certainly a different place than Iona is today.

 

Heather Nannery: You were Editor-in-Chief of The Ionian from 1959-1960.  What was the experience like?

Victor Stanionis: After serving as Features Editor for The Ionian in my junior year, I was elected by the Editorial Board of The Ionian to serve as Editor-in-Chief for 1959-1960. It turned out to be a 40 hour per week job and there was no compensation or benefits whatsoever. It was a purely volunteer job as it was for all members of The Ionian.  We had our office in a Quonset hut, a lightweight prefabricated structure acquired by Iona as Army surplus, brought onto the campus originally as a  temporary classroom to house the large influx of veterans who came to Iona after World War II and was now turned over to the students for use by the various clubs. This shack-like building faced the rear of the Christian Brothers’ house at 33 Beechmont Drive, and we occupied one half and the ICANN had the other half.  A second Quonset hut was shared by Student Government with one-half used for storage by the Iona Players.

 

Nannery: If you recall, give us a brief description of what meeting deadlines entailed.

Stanionis: The eight-page Ionian with an occasional issue of twelve pages was published once per week for a total of twenty-four issues for the year. Meeting the deadlines for publication meant getting the layouts and finished copy, typed on ancient mechanical typewriters, to The Bronxville Printery Corporation by Tuesday morning at 5 a.m. Most of the editors and reporters at that time were involved in all sorts of other campus activities and many times the copy, if it arrived at all, came in around 8 p.m. Monday evening.  So, much of the news was not only edited and laid out by the editors but also written by them.

 

Nannery: How is Iona different now from when you were attending as a student?

Stanionis: Iona was a commuter college. Student parking permits for campus parking could only be obtained by seniors. The rest of the students usually found parking on North Avenue across from the high school. Many students would hitch-hike to and from Iona to the Bronx.  At 2 and 3 p.m. large numbers of students gathered at the front gate and on the corner at Eastchester Road and North Avenue seeking rides to the Bronx subways.

There were many vets from the Korean War attending Iona and, in addition, Iona harbored a large contingent of PLCs (students in the U.S. Marines’ Platoon Leader Corps).  They trained during the summers, were paid all year round, and were commissioned as lieutenants in the marines at graduation. It was said by a former non-Iona marine officer that the army had West Point, the navy had Annapolis and the marines had Iona. Two things that seem to have remained the same are that The Beechmont is the College bar and the College Diner is located at Iona’s main entrance.

 

Nannery: Do you think attending Iona as an undergraduate has shaped the way you treat students as a professor here?

Stanionis: Another thing that has remained constant over the years is Iona’s mission as a Catholic College “dedicated to academic excellence in the tradition of the Christian Brothers and Catholic higher education.” It is Iona’s mission that definitely guided and influenced me in interacting with students as a professor. It is also to two of my Iona professors who were my mentors, and colleagues, Br. Thomas Bullen and Br. Edmond Kiely, that I owe much.

Walking into a class of 40 to 50 students for the first time, some of whom were older, was an experience for me and them.  After awhile, they took me seriously and treated me like a fellow teacher.  As I aged over the years at Iona, I then seemed to be treated by the students as an older brother, eventually a father figure, and now a grandfather figure. In those early years, I remember being asked to leave the faculty dining room and the faculty men’s room. I was told that these places were for faculty and not students. However, in the past 50 years at Iona, my goal has been to give my students the background, the tools, skills and insights that would allow them to compete and succeed in their careers no matter who their competitors were.

 

Nannery: What do you hope for Iona College in the future as we transition from one president to another?

Stanionis: My hopes for Iona College have not changed.  From the very beginning I had the hope and vision of Iona becoming the outstanding college in the metropolitan New York area and have done my best to contribute toward that goal. Having served under five of Iona’s seven presidents, I believe Br. Liguori has been the best one in moving Iona forward academically. I admire his financial acumen and how beautiful he has developed Iona’s campus.  My hope is that the new president will continue to move Iona towards excellence and maintain Iona’s mission.