Loyola Honors Mr. Tom Fitzgerald with Fausone Medal

6/27/2017

At the end of each academic year, Loyola Academy’s Dumbach Scholars Honors Program awards the Fausone Medal to an inspiring member of the Loyola community. The award is named for Molly Fausone ’08 who, despite a traumatic accident before her sophomore year, excelled in the classroom, on sports teams and as a key contributor to the Dumbach Scholars, an enrichment program designed to enhance the curriculum of Loyola’s most gifted students. The 2017 Fausone Medal recipient is O’Shaughnessy Program resource teacher and Boys’ Head Tennis Coach Mr. Tom Fitzgerald.

“The recognition means a lot to me,” comments Fitzgerald, who admits he was completely surprised by the honor. “I was under the impression my dear friend John O’Loughlin ’59 [a longtime Loyola Academy teacher and coach] was receiving the award,” he laughs. “As I listened to Dr. Baal’s speech, all the pieces started falling into place.”

Fitzgerald began his career at Loyola in 1976 teaching history and English and coaching basketball. “I always wanted to be a teacher,” he says. “I’ve made a career of getting students ready to for any challenges that come their way.”

A teaching evaluation from 1978, handwritten on carbon paper, demonstrated Fitzgerald's early success as a budding teacher. “The most outstanding aspect of his teaching is not his knowledge,” the evaluation reads, “But his style—a humane, gentle, firm and concerned style of teaching.”

In 1980, Fitzgerald was asked to coach the varsity boys’ tennis team for one season until a permanent replace could be found. One year turned into two, then five and, now, thirty-seven years later Fitzgerald continues to lead the program. Under Fitzgerald’s guidance, the team has won 27 Catholic League Tennis championships—the most league championships of any coach in Loyola history. Coach Fitz is a member of Loyola Academy’s Athletic Hall of Fame and the Chicago Catholic League Hall of Fame.

And now, for more than 20 years, Fitzgerald has been providing academic support services to students through Loyola’s O’Shaughnessy Program, which serves freshmen and sophomores to improve literacy and study skills and confidence to succeed in a college preparatory environment.

Over the decades, Fitzgerald has been an inspiration for generations of Rambler students and athletes. His personnel file is filled with notes from students and parents expressing their gratitude for his guidance. A parent of an O’Shaughnessy student in the mid-1990s wrote, “My son was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disability during his freshman year. He was drowning, and I did not know what to do. My son wouldn’t have graduated from Loyola without Mr. Fitzgerald's encouragement. Academic success has been an uphill battle for my son, and it was only achievable with the patience, dignity, dedication and perseverance that he received from his teacher.”

The Fausone Medal recognizes a member of the Loyola community whose hard work, dedication, and persistence serves as an inspiration to fellow students, faculty and staff. It’s a lesson Fitzgerald instills in his students and athletes, despite the hardships or challenges they may face. “I tell them that even though I’ve been at Loyola for 41 years, they will have something I never did—a Loyola Academy education. I encourage them to realize what a privilege and gift this is, and to make the most of it everyday.”

More about the Fausone Medal

In July 2005, the summer before her sophomore year, Molly Fausone ’08 was swimming in Michigan with family and friends. After diving into a wave, she hit the bottom of the lake and severely injured her spinal cord between her C5 and C6 vertebrae. The accident left Molly paralyzed from the waist down with limited use of her upper body.

The injury didn’t stop Girls’ Cross Country Head Coach ChrisJon Simon ’86 from asking Molly if she still wanted to be on the cross country team. Molly didn’t hesitate to say yes.

She began using a handbike to complete workouts at practice alongside her teammates. For her perseverance and ability, Molly was named a team captain and received the senior award for leadership.

“Molly taught her teammates the true definition of being a competitive athlete,” recalls Simon, now 11 years later. “At no time was she viewed as the girl in the wheelchair, but rather a team captain and competitor.”

“Molly is extraordinary in every way—armed with courage, intelligence, determination and a great sense of humor,” says Vice President for Admissions and Enrollment Genevieve Baisley Atwood. Atwood was an assistant cross country coach when Molly joined the team. “She was a leader at Loyola and really sees challenges as opportunities.”

Fausone graduated from Loyola in 2008 and in 2012 from Stanford University where she studied human biology. She recently completed her second year of medical school at the University of Michigan and plans to practice internal medicine.

Fausone continues to serve as an inspiration for students, staff and faculty at Loyola. From where does she gain her strength? “From the people around me,” Fausone says. “ I'm inspired too by the communities I am a part of. Recognizing the incredible number of people that have supported me throughout high school and college reminds me that I owe my current opportunities to a large number of people, and the best way I can repay them and thank them is by not taking those opportunities for granted.”

It was this indomitable spirit that inspired the creation of the Fausone Medal to honor Loyola community members who tirelessly work to share their gifts and talents.

“Molly’s spirit is strong and unwavering, and her passion for life has not been silenced by her accident,” says Rambler Elizabeth “Betsy” Webb ’08, a lifelong friend of Fausone’s. The two attended St. Francis Xavier School in Wilmette, Loyola Academy and Stanford University, where Webb watched Fausone flourish in research positions in a variety of labs and study abroad in Santiago, Chile.

“That is what makes Molly so inspirational: the intangible power and energy she applies to her own life and, unknowingly, shares with those whose path she crosses,” says Webb. “Molly will undoubtedly change many more lives in the future as she works to complete school and begins practicing medicine with patients.”

“It's a hard concept to articulate,” says Fausone, “But I think it's easier to be strong for people that love you than to be strong just for yourself.”

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