Community Responds to St. Agnes/Gibbons News

Response from alumni and other members of the community to news that St. Agnes will buy the property of the former Cardinal Gibbons School was swift and often unequivocal.

"They lied to us," Buddy Breen said on Facebook. "It's hard for me to watch unfold. I knew they were being dishonest 2 years ago. They just proved it yesterday."

"Was there ever a doubt?" Earl Eppard . "Just a way for the archdiocese to fill their coffers."

"Well this basically ruined my day," David Y .

"[Archbishop Edward] O'Brein lied and that is a fact," Jeanne Kraft White commented. "He had a job to do and was prepared to use any means possible to be successful, including lying...Gibbons does not live in the confines of the brick building, but it lives on in my heart and my memories forever."

"I'm disgusted with St. Agnes and the archdiocese," Bobbie Ann Foster . "The whole thing was shady, underhanded and dishonest."

"I think we all knew they were being dishonest 2 years ago," said Alysha Dorr. "It just makes me sad, angry, and very distrusting."

"'[T]hey will transform neighborhoods as well,' and I'll bet they won't ask us if we want to be transformed," reader CAW21227 . "They will do what they want with no regard to the people living within a stones throw of the property."

Others put the transaction in a different perspective:

"As one who was there the first day that the school building was open in the summer of 1963 and was there the last day of classes in 2010, I am glad that the property will be preserved in such a great manner and the memories of Cardinal Gibbons and St. Mary's Industrial Schools will be preserved," Wayne McDowell commented on Facebook. "It is a win for St. Agnes and the community."

"What's a building?" Michael Vandenberg said on Facebook. "Nothing lasts. The spirit lasts."

"Wonderful news," Steve Cole commented on Facebook. "Two years ago we thought St. Agnes was buying us and we were upset. Now, we find St. Agnes is buying us (nearly to the day) and we are thankful. The [Archdiocese of Baltimore] know their sheep."

"God Bless the 'Halls of Gibbons' and all those who have walked them," Toni Downey .