By Anna Woods, Senior Writer

Several Manhattan College alumni are outraged over the recent decision to hire University of Hartford head coach John Gallagher over the Jaspers’ interim head coach Rashawn Stores as head coach for the men’s basketball team. 

Many alumni took to Twitter and alumni forums, vowing to cease their donations to Manhattan College and swearing off any future volunteer involvement. Other fans called for the firing of athletic director Marianne Reilly for the hiring decision, going as far as circulating the hashtag  #FireMarianneReilly. 

As the Quadrangle reported on March 30, Manhattan College athletics announced on March 29 that the college had officially hired Gallagher to take over the Jaspers’ squad for the 2023-2024 season. 

The popular Twitter, @6thboroMC, and Instagram account, @6thboroughmc, became a leading voice speaking out in support of Stores. Kenny Bowen, a graduate of the class of 2004, is the owner of both accounts and has been active in the alumni and men’s basketball community since his graduation. He shared that he created the account to boost fan engagement and support Stores, shortly after Steve Masiello, was fired as head coach earlier in the fall. 

“[The account] was really started to be a positive thing to build up a fan base and help the program and do whatever we can to make things better,” Bowen told The Quadrangle. 

@6thboroughmc quickly responded to the hiring decision and became an open forum for fans to voice their concerns. Many of those concerns lead to an attack against John Gallagher. Bowen explained that most of that anger is misdirected. 

“I feel bad because I’m sure John Gallagher is a good guy and he’s getting the brunt of the anger from the fans,” Bowen said. “I feel like maybe I was a bit too hard on him as well in the beginning, but it was not really supposed to be for him. It should have been directed towards the administration.”

Many fans criticized Gallagher’s record and called into question how quickly he was hired. Bowen explained that Gallagher, who has not coached in a year, has a worse record than Masiello did when he was fired.

“When Masiello got fired, one of the main things that Marianne Riley said was ‘go look at his record.’[Masiello] had 162 wins and 177 losses over 11 seasons, and he had two NCAA Tournament games,” Bowen said. “John Gallagher had 169 wins and 207 losses and one tournament game. Don’t tell us to look at his record when you’re hiring somebody who has a worse record.”

The most significant source of outrage comes from many fans feeling that Stores was mistreated throughout this hiring process. Bowen explained that the athletic department needs to change, as he feels that coaches and players are being “set up to fail.”

[The athletic department] is in really bad shape … and it’s just an embarrassment,” Bowen said. “The position that we put some of our former coaches and student-athletes in is not acceptable. They’re set up to fail  because of the timing that our athletic department is doing.”

He explained that Stores was “strung along” throughout the process. 

“There’s no reason why Rashawn should have been strung along the process so long,” Bowen said. “For [administration] to drag him through the process up until Final Four week when all most of the job openings are filled is unfair. For them to tell him to come to his final meeting, dressed up with a resume. [The meeting] wasn’t even an interview, it was for them to tell him. ‘I’m sorry you didn’t get the job.’ That was it. So hearing the way that that went down was just heartbreaking. Why even tell him to put a suit on? … It just adds insult to injury.” 

Bowen said that this type of behavior from the administration and the athletic department needs to stop and shared that some of his opinions of the college have changed. 

“You have to treat your own better, you know, treat your family better,” Bowen said. “Because that’s not the way you treat your family … I have two little girls and I wanted to bring them to games. And [have them] possibly go to school there one day. I can’t back that, if this is the way we’re treating our own.” 

The outcry from the community does not come as a surprise, as Bowen explained that prior to the hiring decision, many alumni made their opinions clear and reached out to Manhattan College Interim President Daniel Gardner, in support of hiring Stores. Bowen went on to call Stores “a proven winner on and off the court.”

“A lot of alumni and a lot of former players, emailed Br. Dan, in support of hiring Rashawn and [sharing] what everybody thought about him, and how we would feel about him being a head coach,” Bowen said.

Additionally, this announcement follows a series of what fans are calling “poor decision-making” on behalf of the athletic department that began with the firing of former coach Steve Masiello two weeks prior to the season starting.

Michael Kelly, class of 2007, shared that hiring Stores “seemed like an easy win for Manhattan.” He explained that this decision and mishandling of the situation were not surprising. 

“I wasn’t surprised,” Kelly said. “The administration, the athletic director, they’ve just displayed a level of incompetence in being unable to not only set a foundation for the basketball team but really athletics in general over the past few years. This whole process has really been kind of a lesson on how not to do this.” 

David Evans, class of 2002, agreed that the final decision was the wrong one. 

“After many years of mediocrity, the athletic department and the administration finally were given an easy decision that they couldn’t mess up,” Evans said. “To say that our athletic department and administration swung and missed is an understatement. To say that they are completely and utterly incapable of handling an athletic department at a mid-major level is much more accurate.”

Evans continued to praise Stores saying that he has not received the accolades he deserved for his transformation of the program.

“Stores inherited a bad team under the worst circumstances … Stores is one of our own,” Evans said. “He rallied the team, the school and the alumni base. The way I was brought up, you don’t treat one of your own like this.” 

 Kelley echoed similar sentiments, sharing that Stores was perfect for the Jasper Community.

“You’ve got a coach who exemplifies everything that we were looking for, someone to be a leader,” Kelly said. “He was a great student and a great athlete. He worked hard to get a spot on the team when he was in Manhattan.” 

The frustration that alumni are feeling are pushing many of them to halt any future donations and involvement to the college.  Michael Paluszek, class of 1980, is a second-generation Jasper and was a lifelong fan before this decision. 

“I’ve been going to games since I was a little kid,” Paluszek said. “I will never go to a Manhattan College basketball game again because of this travesty.”

Paluszek shared that many of his colleagues also plan on removing themselves from alumni involvement and have sworn never to donate to Manhattan College again.

“Lou Lamatina, class of 1979 and his wife Jeanine Lamatina, class of 1981, have stepped away from their significant involvement with the College,” Paluszek said. “They have both been excellent ambassadors of the College, with Lou having served as President of our Alumni Society from 2017 through 2019. They are disgusted, as are many fellow alums, fans and former players.”

Bill Reilly, class of 1955 and former sports editor of The Quadrangle, said “The team is going to lose a lot of long-time fans. This was my 77th season as a fan. I will be one of them.”

Paluszek suggested that this decision will impact the college entirely, especially as the school has begun its search for a new President. He hopes that the incoming President will investigate the hiring decision.

“The college’s reputation has been soiled,”Paluszek said. “It’s a black stain that will have damaging repercussions and take years to fix. It’s a disgraceful, shameful, and embarrassing period in our school’s history. A transparent independent investigation needs to be conducted and made public by the incoming new President of the college into how this happened.”

When asked if the college would be able to reconnect with fans, Bowen said it’s too soon to tell.

“It’s going to take a lot of healing time,” Bowen said. “It’s almost like a bad breakup or divorce. All the fans are in this position of anger and sadness.” 

For some, time may not be the answer, as they feel abandoned and insulted that the college would mistreat pillars of the Jasper community in the way that mistreated Stores.

As Paluszek said, “RaShawn Stores’ story is our story. He is us. We are him. I’m no longer proud to be a Jasper and do not want to be associated with the school in any way anymore.”