 So, thank you all for joining us this evening. My name is Jana Canapa from the class of 1982 and Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations and I'm happy to welcome you all on behalf of Fairfield's Alumni Relations Office. This is a very, very special night for a very, very special professor, mentor, and friend to so many of us. So before we kick things off, just a few reminders. As always, I want to ask that you please keep your microphones muted throughout the presentation and recommend, and I recommend that you use speaker view rather than gallery view and zoom to keep your screen focused on Dr. Lane. At the end of the talk, we will take a few questions from the audience, which can be done by using the raise hand feature. Again, everyone who registered for the webinar will receive a recording and a special link to wish Dr. Lane well instead of using the chat because there's just so many of us. So let's get started. We are pleased to have one of Professor Lane's former students with us to provide the introduction. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to this very special lecture by Dr. Phil Lane. Thank you all for joining us. My name is Shaila Mahoney-Macamey from the class of 1987 and a member of the Board of Trustees. It is truly my honor to introduce Dr. Lane tonight, although this is a bittersweet moment. As an economics major, Dr. Lane was my favorite professor as I'm sure he was for all of you. He has been a fixture on campus for the last 40 years and has had a positive, maybe even life-changing impact on generations of students, including my own children who have attended Fairfield. Dr. Lane's impact on campus has gone beyond the classroom. During his tenure at Fairfield, he has served as Mentor in the Ignatian Residential College for over 15 years and was named Alpha Sigma Nu teacher of the year and honored as advisor of the year from FUSA. In addition, Dr. Lane has been nationally recognized as a recipient of the Father Magrath Faculty Award from the National School of Banking and a recipient of the National Alpha Sigma Nu Magis Medal and honor really awarded to a faculty member. I just learned that he's also going to be this year's teacher of the year in the Dolan School of Business, another well-deserved award. Beyond the awards that Professor Lane has received over the years, alumni and students know him as Professor from Massachusetts with a strong Bostonian accent and love for his family, teaching and of course the Red Sox. We know him as a professor who never had a bad day and always put students first. When they needed him, he would be there whether it was for academics or something in their personal life, truly living pure personalities each and every day. His passion and energy in the classroom are legendary, bringing challenging topics such as economics and money and banking to life. We are grateful to have had such a professor, mentor and friend and we are thrilled to have Professor Lane give us one last lecture. He'll be truly missed by the alumni and all of the Fairfield University community. Professor Lane, I turn it over to you. Shaila, you know how to put a tear in my eye before you even got going. God bless you. By the way, ladies and gentlemen, Shaila and her daughter Molly and her son John did that from Chile. So that's kind of amazing to me. So first question you all know and I know Mr. Wolf can answer the question. Obviously, some of the elder statesmen like to me and and Seabrig and Curley, Tom Cullum, Christine Cahill, go down to Lucy and Teresa Fox and Mike. You all know the first question, Saint of the Day. OK, you haven't got that down. We're already in trouble. So we're going to go from there. Let me start. First of all, it's an honor and privilege to have you folks to make the time to listen to this guy. Thank you so much. Got a couple of things that I'm going to go to go through. I apologize right out of the box that I'm going to stop a little depressing news. As many of you know, great universities across the country have done this for years. It's called the last lecture. And it goes back to Europe. But in terms of the last lecture, the one that got the most attention in the last in this century was by a guy from Carnegie Mellon University, a professor of computer science. And at the time he was 47 and it truly was his last lecture because he was terminally ill. And it's always been kind of difficult for me to look at that video, which I do just about every year because at the same time that he was passing, one of my nephews was passing and Jimmy was 45 at the time. So now that I've got you all depressed, let's get going. Going to make a few assumptions. One, if I offend you with any of my remarks, I am truly sorry. I'm only going to speak from the heart and the mind will occasionally get in the way. As many of you know, who have been in class with me, I am not always politically correct and I try to do better, but well, my responses get over it. You and I have made decisions that have been wicked smart. And like if you're like me, you've made some very polls. I have taken responsibility for mine and have paid a price deal at times. OK, now, as you heard from Shayla, I do have some credibility to be able to give this talk to you tonight. And as she said, I got the award from Alpha Sigma Nu, that was in 1990. So that's back in the dark ages when I still were able to use a blackboard. Now I have to use a whiteboard or they want me to use these things called PowerPoint. Not a fan, but I do use them. I was the advisor of the year after coming back from Rollins, Tennessee with a bunch of students. I am the husband of a graduate of Fairfield University. My wife, Jean, got a master's from Fairfield University after she and I moved down to Connecticut. My princess number two is a graduate of Fairfield University in the class of 10. So if you ask the queen, my queen, she will tell you that I have been devoted to my craft and my students. If you ask most of my students, at least if you ask those who actually went to class and actually tried to work with me, they would at least be polite. So I'm going to talk to you for about 20 minutes or so. Since I'm an academic, I divide things usually into 50 or 75 minute blocks unless it's a graduate class. And then it's three hours. So I am going to try to constrain my dialogue here. I have a couple of things to talk about. One, I would like to talk a little bit about tell you about who I am that for those of you don't know. A little bit of my background and I want to talk a little bit about some of the stars that I've met at Fairfield. So let's start. My name is Philip Joseph Patrick Lincoln. Born November 5th, 1952. McGowan Hospital in Massachusetts. Oh, by the way, it doesn't exist anymore. Okay. It's very similar to the church I was married in, St. Lawrence, old tools in Lawrence. That doesn't exist anymore either. Okay. At the, at my birth, my godmother, my aunt, Joe, was there to assist in the delivery. I am, if you ask anybody from Lawrence, so where I grew up, what my name is, they will tell you it's either Joe or Joey. Because my father was Philip James and I was Philip Joseph. So there was not going to be a big fill and a little fill in his house. So I was Joe, his better half, his words, not mine, was my mother, Anna, Gavin Lane. My father's mother, Kate came over on the boat. She's one of, was one of six and she was the only one who didn't go into religious life. My father was one of six. My mother was one of six. So everyone in that crew was within 10 miles of the original homestead before World War II. So I am a Laurentian born and raised, been out of that city pretty much since 1976. But I still got roots there, got still two nephews on the department there. I went to the Saunders School in Lawrence, doesn't exist anymore. And the weather be still exists. And then I went down to Reading, Massachusetts to go to school at Austin Prep. We're one of my nephews, actually teachers now. So I was influenced by the Augustinians. Some of you have heard my story about Father Red came special guy. Then I went off to Providence College and was corrupted by the Dominicans. And along the way, I tried to play baseball, basketball and football. One of the strange things happened to me between grades nine and 10 is I grew a foot and lost about 20 pounds. So I went from being the second tallest, smallest guy in my eighth grade class to actually being the second tallest at six, three and 175 pounds. I actually could play. So I actually did some of that stuff. I do have a strange observation about that. Now most of you played some sort of organized ball, whether it was Little League, CYO or whatever, did all of that. My father never saw me play again. He probably gave me a lot of knowledge that I should pass on now. He said, you know, let's let the kids play. Tell the adults who really don't act like adults around sporting events to go get a cup of tea or a cup of coffee. And either pick the kids up when it's done or let them walk home. Now where I grew up in Lawrence, you could walk home. So that wasn't important. School was important. Working was important. Sports was just entertainment. I often wish I had remembered more of what my father said, because in my world, he was the most important person in my life. I only wish that I am half the gentleman and half the person he was to our family and his friends. If I can do that, I'd be pretty happy. Now, so that's a little bit about me. Oh, by the way, I'm talking to you from Salisbury, Massachusetts. I should put in a plug that that's my version of God's country. Some people have heard it already. I've been here for about three years now, living, computing back and forth to Fairfield. I teach on Mondays and Thursdays in the courtesy of my cousin Jay and his wife, Caroline. I have been able to stay at their house. So I come down on Sunday nights, stay with some of the most wonderful people in the world, get treated like a king, couldn't ask for nice of people. And then I come drive back to Salisbury Monday night. And then I go back down Wednesday night and do it all over again. Oh, by the way, for those of you who don't remember, you know, some of the dinosaurs, no offense, you, you remember Donnaruma Hall. I actually had to move out of it. I'm actually in the new school of business building. I have a new desk first time. All right. In my 37 years, I finally got a new desk. So I'm very impressed with this new building. And I have a window. I had one in Donnaruma, but different than Donnaruma, this one doesn't open. But if you have trouble figuring out where my office is in Donnaruma, go outside and look up. You will see a Red Sox game shirt hanging on the wall with the name Lane on it, given to me by a very special student group of students in my challenge team. Now, I'm going to talk a little about Fairfield. Forget Lawrence and all that. Okay. I came to Fairfield in 1981. So I came my classmates, technically. Oh, by the way, apparently I'm actually going to graduate this year after 40 years. I'm a little slow learner. But some of you may have met a gentleman named Larry Miners. He was the taller and wiser. I was the wider and shorter replacement for Father Bill Holman. And the other classmate was Paul Lakeland. These two guys are absolute superstars, both at Fairfield and beyond. So I have had the opportunity to work with some really great people at Fairfield. And that's the ones I'd like to focus on now. Most of them, I'm going to leave the dipsticks out. All right. This is all about positive. Let's think good stuff. Okay. You've all been to the Barone Campus Center. But most of you have no idea who John Barone is. He was the first provost at Fairfield University. Chemistry professor and like the great Dr. Nance from Purdue University. But John really is the first person that I ever met who actually showed me the difference between business and personal. I'd been in a meeting with John and I was not a nice person. It was a salary community. So I'm representing the faculty. He's representing the university. I was not a nice. I was a Lawrence guy, okay? I'm banging on the table the whole nine yards. We walk out of the conference room in Canisius and he turns to me. Once we're outside the door closes, Phil, have a great dinner with Jeannie tonight. I was like, what? John, I was just a jerk to Jesus. Phil, that was business. You're basically a good guy. So I'm going home to Rosemary and have a nice dinner. You know, next time we have this meeting, we'll be a jerk again. I'll be a jerk again. But outside of that, we're going to be good. God bless you. I don't know how you do this. It's going to take you a while. It took me a while. So I learned that there's sometimes you just have to be a dipstick, but it's in the meeting. You don't make a person. That's a great lesson. Now, the lady who hired me, some of you had the pleasure of having in class. That would be the Joan Walters, okay? The first woman hired at Fairfield University. I had a wait for her to retire to teach money in banking, okay? And just a special lady, special lady. I can't say enough wonderful things about Joan. She actually, if you actually talked to Billy, you know, at some point, Bill will tell you how he helped her in what, in having her not to take so many classes. I mean, this lady was special. I will say that Joan was a, God bless her. She was a special lady to all of us. She hired most of the department, and she really chose wisely, especially. Now, I know some of you probably don't know who Common Donnaruma is. You know the name of the building. But Professor Donnaruma was from Waterbury, Connecticut. He was one of the original faculty members of Fairfield University. And a very interesting guy. He came from Waterbury. So he came down every day from Waterbury. He was also the guy who took students who lived in Waterbury to Fairfield if they needed a ride, okay? He did some really special stuff. He was the ultimate host, the ultimate gentleman. And until he got into his late 80s, he would come back every year for commencement to talk to the class that was the 50th anniversary class. He was in Donnaruma Hall. Obviously, he had a corner office. He was the chair of the politics department. And exactly every day he was on campus at 7-10, he lit up the first cigar. That's in the old days, when you actually could do that. But he always had an open window, which was a good thing. Can't say enough nice things about him. He treated me wonderfully. He was a good, good guy. He also made some really good coffee in the morning. Now, there's a gentleman who I describe as my mentor, my boss, and one of the best people I ever worked with. That would be Edward J. Deek. I had the pleasure of working with Ed with the New England Economic Project. We did several other projects all the time. He guided me. He was probably the only person other than John Orman, who was louder than me. And we always seemed to end up with a poetry professor on the same flow we were teaching, and she would walk around to close all the doors. Because between Orman, Deek, and Lane, we were just too loud. But he was, I can't, he's the only guy that I have been in a car, going back and forth from Fairfield to Boston for a meeting. And the only thing we would talk about for the entire ride was baseball. And so we always had the annual quiz of who wasn't in the Hall of Fame, who should be in the Hall of Fame. But Ed is probably the best strategist that Fairfield University ever had. He was usually about six steps ahead of everybody, but a guy named Bob Kelly. Okay, now, some of you had the pleasure of having Jay Bus. He was a quiet leader. He's actually a big birder, big hiker. He's the gentleman who said that I had to learn to run with him. And he took me up Burst Street so that we came down Burst Street. That was a new, you know, that little stream at the end of Burst Street. I jumped in it because I was so in trouble. My knees didn't hurt. They were burning. So I think Jay was a great guy. He did a lot of good stuff for us. Robert Ellis is Kelly, which some of the early members of this call would remember clearly not politically correct. He was a Marine, is a Marine. And he could be the smartest person to have a better Fairfield. Very rough around the edges. But again, he's from one socket Rhode Island. You got to accept that. But a special guy, special guy. He finally sold his lumber yard. But he was there. Some of you may have had the pleasure of having John Oman. John Oman kept me playing basketball much longer than I ever should have, because one of the challenges was playing the students is they stay 18 to 22. When I came in 81, I was 27 years old. And I played into the 90s, which was not a good idea. I had enough tape on my legs to hurt people. Now there's another alum that I have to talk about actually two. They actually both about the same time, too. One of them's named Kurt Schlickney. If you had the pleasure of having Professor Schlickney, you had one of the, what I would argue, one of the best scholars in social science at Fairfield University. He was also a rugger. So that gave him a different attitude. And it was a great attitude. I actually had a conversation with Kurt this week. Actually, we ate in the tully. He's working on a book about Fairfield with a guy named Paul Lakeland, which I've already mentioned. If that one, that book comes out and you want to learn more about the real Fairfield and how, what a special place it is. This is not a coffee book. It's actually scholars writing above my pay grade. Suggest you take a look at it. Now the next gentleman I need to talk about is somebody kind of special in my world. Did you just go away? I did something wrong. All right, so I just have a question for all of you. If you had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman, a guy named Jim Fitzpatrick, you got to meet the gentleman who I describe as the class of Fairfield. And I mean that in the true sense of the word. He is a special person. He and I were given an award the same year by Alfred Sigmannou. And he was the alumni slash administrative representative and I was the faculty. And he looked at me and he says, oh, I drew the right straw. I go, why? He goes, you got to get up and forgive a speech. And you got to talk about economics and Jesuit values. And I just get to sit here and watch you. So Jim did okay with that one. Jim has been a mentor with me, he's worked with me. We have done all kinds of stuff together. Jim is just one of those guys that you, lucky if you got to know him, he's a very special person. All right, now, got to switch gears a little bit here. Because I have to, if I don't, I'd be really in trouble. I have to talk about the queen. And that's my wife, Jean Martha Roush Ling. She clearly is my better half. I have known her since I was two. I didn't start dating her till I was in college. And I've been very, very blessed. Gonna come back to her a little later. There's a couple Jesuits I have to mention. Father Homan, for those of you who go back away, because I was the replacement. So when I, Father Homan retired in 80, 80, 80, and I came in in 81. He's the guy who started the economics department at Fairfield. And clearly he's, I have a special place for him, because he's the one at the beach when I was there on my recruiting trip as a faculty recruit. He actually talked to my wife and convinced her that Fairfield really wasn't that far away from the Lawrence area. And that there's a lot of people like us down there. Yes, there are Red Sox fans here. You'll be fine. So he helped convince my wife that this was a good move. And I cannot thank him enough for that. Some of you may have run into a gentleman named Father Thomas Regan, now the rector of the Jesuit community at Fordham University. Tom, Father Tom and I go way back. He was here when I came and he's been all over the world. I've done a whole lot of great stuff. I only wished I could have convinced him as several other people on this call have done and tried to convince him to come back to Fairfield. I know at least Tom Cullum and Bill Curley for sure. I would assume you and a few others have been on that call as well. Who asked that gentleman to come back. So we'll see. I mean, I always think highly of that man. He really helped me. The other one that I know some of you got to know is a guy named Father Joe McDonald. Now, for those of you who are relatively new to the game, if you've been in the science building, there is the McDonald Atrium with all of those crazy plastic designs up there. Those are all differential equations, by the way. But Father Joe was a mathematician. Father Joe did nothing slow. Actually, he's written more books about the history of Fairfield than just about anybody else. He also was known for the 12-minute mass on Sunday nights in what used to be called the Oriental's now-cost Costco claim. Tremendous guy. I had the pleasure of going through the 19th annotation with Father Joe. And according to everybody that was doing at the same time, I had the best deal because not only did I see him at seven o'clock on Wednesday morning when we were done before eight, we had masks before we finished. So I can't say he's a great guy. A lot of people probably remember him. So you may have figured out, I have had a lot of mentors, a lot of advisors, a lot of helpers. Now, according to the math I was given, I have had the misfortune of influencing over 5,000 students, which is kind of scary that they would let this guy from Lawrence do that. I've been to New Orleans, banging nails with students. I've been to Rollins, Tennessee, beautiful place. I wouldn't want to live there, but I've had the pleasure of working with students. I've obviously, as you heard from Shayla, I've been involved in the Ignatian Residential College, I'm now called the Ignatian Residential College. I used to be called the Loyola, Loyola, but been a great gig with there. Some of the people on this call, Hugh and Kathleen, I had the pleasure of actually doing that with you. And I believe Ms. Brandon is on here as well. So some of you know what I'm talking about and you know that I'm kind of crazy. Some of you on this call have had the misfortune of being in the Fed challenge with me. And as you may know, the Fed challenge, for those of you who don't know it, is basically Phil Lane teaching money and banking macroeconomics in eight weeks or less. And then we get ready to go to the Fed in New York. So those are some of the things I've had to do. I am a Rotaria. I am also a Knight of Columbus, fourth degree. I learned something very quickly on in early in this game, never underestimate a stag. You will always be pleasantly surprised. It's been kind of good. I am the father of Mara Catherine and Bridget Mary. I am the grandpa of Shannon, Colin, Molly and Max. I have over, I have 28 nieces and nephews. I'm an only child by the way. And I have well almost 40 grand nieces and nephews. Kind of interesting. I am in a department that has been wonderful to me. I have been allowed to do a lot of things like Sheila said about the National School of Banking. I work with the Connecticut bankers. I've worked with credit unions. Actually I'm on board of one. So I've been allowed to do a lot of wonderful things. I have been a poor student and I have definitely been an absent minded professor. But I am in a department and I can tell you right now the Department of Economics, whether you want to talk about Kathy Nancy, Mark LeClaire, Dina Franceschi, William Vasquez, Anya Aksen, Hedya Shadmani, Scott Hiller, Helena Keefe. And the new guy replacing me is Filippo. So Phil's going out and Filippo's coming in. So it's been, by the way, virtually all of those people I was involved hiring. So I know how wonderful they are. And they also have tolerated, actually some of them say I have a worse accent than just about anybody else on campus. And I take that as a badge of honor. Now I was told a long time, and so as you have heard from Sheila already, I am a Red Sox fan. I'm also an economist. So I also am a Bruins fan, Celtics fan. And obviously I have to tolerate the Patriots. Again, given my age, they came later. They came in 1960. So I have a challenge sometimes with logic because compared to many of my younger colleagues, I actually remember when the Red Sox didn't win and the Patriots played it BU and the Bruins, or the Bruins, but my mother loved the Bruins. So that was a great thing. Now I was told a long time ago that when I give a speech like this or a talk like this, I am supposed to have some very important quotes. I'm supposed to impress you with the stuff I've read. Right. So let's start with an easy one. This comes from Lawrence Berra. You probably know him as Yogi. When you come to the fork in the road, take it, okay? Now that is the title of a book which I would strongly recommend you read because it's actually really interesting. So a lot of his quotes within the context of what they were actually said, not how they were reported by the media. The second is there were two roads that diverged into woods and I took the one less traveled and I have been the better for it. That is from the poet laureate of Lawrence, Massachusetts, Robert Frost. And I will tell you that I did take the road less traveled and I've been the better for it. I've had a great experience in Fairfield. I have one, a couple of things to harass you about now. One is I was taught a long time ago and this was Joe. Don't, oops, sorry. That's telling me I don't have much time. All right, I time myself by the way, I try to do that. I don't do that in class Molly, I just keep going. All right, it's their clock, not my clock. I pay no attention to it. There are several people on here who've heard that line including Ms. Shayla Murphy and Kim Gagallup who I have to pick out some names. I wrote down some names from each of the decades and I realized that I couldn't actually talk at you. So I apologize because I had to actually have it planned out. But you know, that's me, I'm never on the right schedule. So anyway, back to harassing. My father said, never put anybody else, don't put yourself down. There's enough other people who will do it for you. It's a pretty good advice. Now, as you all know, I'm an economist. So I was taught a long time ago to build models and we would use those models to analyze policy and to forecast. Unfortunately, you gotta remember the assumptions you make. We make assumptions about human behavior that sometimes, I mean, we make assumptions that humans are rational. I mean, you all have dealt with people that are far from it. And so haven't I? And most of my life, common sense is probably what more of us should be using. And one of the things I think is important to remember that then again, from my father, humility, it goes a long way. You know, there's a lot of songs you could look at but I think Humble and Kind is a pretty good place to start. Now, I assume that you all remember the three hats of government. Correct, Mr. Toomey. And I know Mr. Toomey's going yelling like I remember that I had, I graduated in 83. You think I remember anything you said other than the things that weren't important economics? And that's allocation, distribution and stabilization. And I would ask Mr. Romano, if you could explain to me the dual mandate. And I assume that you have carried that forward with you. And that is that we would like to have a low unemployment rate, that's which is pretty good right now. I take the number we got right now and be happy as a climate high tide. The inflation rate, I'm not too happy with it. But you know, there's not much you can do about that. Shayler and I had a conversation before this started. A little bit of supply challenges out there. Now, I always ask the students in class, what's the lowest that ever paid for gasoline at a pump? Now I have to be careful because the boys and girls from New Jersey don't pump gas. I don't know why it's a New Jersey thing. I don't get it. But it's also cheaper in New Jersey than it is in New York. So I get that must be the reason. So my answer is 29 cents. That just tells you how old I am. All right, and I actually pumped it myself. So I know that's not allowed in certain states. Now, I would have a couple of things to say now. Thank you for making the time to listen to me. I know this wasn't an academic talk and it wasn't gonna be. I'm gonna, I talked from here and let this get in the way occasionally. So one cup, one thing to, if you have any questions, Janice gonna tell you what I, how I'm gonna answer. But one of the things that I learned this week is that I get to keep my email address. And for those of you who don't know it, I have an antique address. Mine is lane at fairfield.edu. And the person I thank for that is Joan Walters. She got us our email addresses for anybody basically knew what they were. So there was lane, there's Nance, there's miners, there's bus, and it's deke. The only reason why Kelly got a letter is we had a president named Kelly, all right? So that's the only case when Bob Kelly got letters. But I think really they wanted to make sure everybody knew it was Robert L. wishes Kelly to be truthful. But Janet, I'm done. I have, I can go on for the two hours if you want, but I don't think, you know, Shayla's not a chili. I have no idea what time zone she and Molly and John are in. So I don't wanna drive them crazy. Any questions? That was awesome. That was awesome, Dr. Lane. Thank you Shayla for the great introduction and all of you for being with us here tonight. Oh my gosh, we're just so blessed for knowing Dr. Lane. But we do have time for a few questions. So if anybody wants to use the raise hand function on your screen, we'll try and call them out and see what happens here. Phil. It's all good. It's all good. Dead silence. It sounds like class. And Jim Gallagher. Oh my God. Jim Gallagher. Oh, I'm glad you got, no, Jim, mine's empty right now. Hold on, Jim, you're on mute. Could you let the great officer- There you go. A toast to Tully for one of my best friends. What a great guy. You taught me how to be very successful being homeless. Thank you, sir, James. Cheers, my friend. Great job. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it, Jim. Janet, can I make a comment? Oh, Jesus. I have a story and I don't remember all the details, but it's a testament to the character of Phil Lane. Going back, Phil, maybe you'll certainly remember this, maybe two decades ago, there was a group of students who came to Newport, Rhode Island, where I lived economics majors. And I think one of them was going to give the Val Victorian address, Phil. And on a street corner, they were celebrating and he stepped off the curb and a car hit him and he died, or he went to the hospital. No, he died. He died. And it's now late at night. I can't remember what time at night it was. I wasn't up here then. It's two o'clock in the morning. The students call Phil. Back in Trumbull, Phil, where you were living? They call Phil in Trumbull and they're devastated and they don't know really what to do. Phil gets in his car at two o'clock in the morning and drives to Newport, Rhode Island. And I think, Phil, you met the students at the hospital. Yep. And he was there for them. And that's a perfect example of the character of Phil Lane. Thank you. Thank you, Kurt. Frank Lox. That was a tough one. Thank you for sharing that, Kurt. I remember it vividly and that was a tough day for Fairfield, but Phil was there. And that's what matters. That's what the Fairfield community is all about. That's what we do for each other. So thank you for sharing that story. This is Scott. I remember you mentioned a lot of times that you were talking to the wall. Yes, I did. Economic thing, I remember. I have the economics books just in case you wanted a problem set from one of them. But obviously, I have to ask for help. But also, I'm sure they're gonna need when I'm straying your door. I'm sure you'll have the confidence and all that on your door. That I do. Thank you, Scott. Jackie Orban has a hand up. Hi, Jackie. There I go. Hi, there's Elaine. How are you? So good to see you after so many years. Wonderful to be here, Jackie. I'm gonna talk for old folks in the call. You know, I wanted to thank you, you know, back then when I had your economics class, we were all masters of students with jobs during the day. And our economics class was late at night. And I can't think of a better teacher to teach us at night. You always kept us going, kept us interested. You know, it was interesting times. We were all part-time students doing it, doing our degree at night. We were tired from the working day and you were there for us to teach us and to keep us going. And I think I speak from all of us, all of us in the master's degree. What a phenomenal teacher. Thank you. Thank you, Jackie. I truly appreciate the words. Thank you so much. It was all a coffee anyway, Jackie. I mean, no, it was more than coffee. I mean, you kept us going to 9.30. And I don't know how you did it, but you were fantastic at it. And I thank you so much. You're entirely welcome. It's a pleasure. It was all mine. We have a couple more. How about Michelle Butler? Hi, I'm sorry for my camera on. So I want to thank you from the class of 04. Oh my goodness, Michelle. I looked at Butler, I'm going. Butler, now I know who you are. I just want to say thank you. I actually teach economics in a high school in the Bronx now. Awesome. So I only hope I can instill a small amount of knowledge in them as you did in the rest of us. But thank you so, so much. It's always great to hear your voice. Well, you're so kind, Michelle. Thank you. Stay well and keep at it. You're gonna be great. I will. Enjoy retirement. I'm going to. Thank you so much. Thank you. Hello, Troy, how are you? Very good. How are you, Professor Wayne? Better for seeing you, good, sir. Good to see you. I actually live a half a mile from the campus now. I've come back full circle. Oh my goodness. But I wore this, first of all, as a tribute to you because I heard there's a small insurance company up there that I probably was reminded of many times in each class. And there I go again. But, you know, I just wanted to tell a quick story and I think it is a testament to what kind of person you are. You know, when I first met you, you mentioned a number of the all-star cast of professors that I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet at Fairfield. And I never forget I met you playing intramural basketball against the professor team. And being this moronic young punk that was in there, I remember falling out of the game and got so belligerent with all of you, you all cheered as they escorted me out of the gym. And I'm like, and I screamed back at all of you, I've never taken any of your classes anyways. Well, Professor Orman, I took about 12 of his classes. I took about 15 of yours. You became my advisor. And I never, I just couldn't be more appreciative of you seeing past that knucklehead that I was. And being able to give me some fantastic advice that still rings true today. So thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. By the way, that there is a shirt in my office. There's a gentleman on here. I'm not even gonna try to pronounce his last name, but Sean, you know who I'm talking about. He actually took all of those silly sayings I have and had him put on a shirt and gave it to the rest of the Fed challenge team that year. It's hanging in my office. He calls them lanisms. I think they're just bad lines is what I would call them. But yeah. Thank you, John. Thank you, Troy. Hey, about Rob Grimes. Oh, jeez. This is here. And you know my relatives. I do. I'm live tweeting right now, letting them know, we said we're at 203 and counting and lots of filianisms coming at us. I even knew the secret that you were really Joey in your personal life. So I feel like I'm in the VIP crew. Congratulations. Nice to see you again, of course. And I'll tell you, there's a few of us from 01 who are texting, well, we should be paying attention and talking about all the happy memories with you. And I think the consensus was that we all have a minor in lane, right? We took about five or six year classes, but we wish now that we're not hungover like on a Wednesday morning that we could take them again. So they're a quest being. Any chance we meet a few filianisms in retirement and what is your retirement plan with the Queen and your four grandchildren? Couple things. I'm gonna still be doing some stuff with the Connecticut bankers. I'm gonna be actually playing with the grandkids, which will be, if I had known how much fun grandkids were, I wouldn't have wasted time with the regular kids, but because it was, that's only, that's a bad joke, but they're just so much fun. And you can, but you get to go home and sometimes you need to, cause when you're my age, they wear you out pretty quickly. And so I'll be doing some of that. And then I've got, still got stuff to do on the house here. So we're making progress. Awesome. Thank you. We have way more hair than most of us do. And we're wishing. Hey, that's because I have an imperfect head. You have a perfect one. Congratulations, sir. Thank you, sir. Dorothea Brennan, how are you? I am great, thank you. Phil, I felt like the Ignatian side of this ought to be brought up because you were a leader and mentor to all of us and to the program for the Ignatian Residential Colleges. And it's a, we're going to miss you both in terms of that mentorship, but also in terms of all the great laughs. You're very kind, Dorothea. That's been, that was, that's a great run. We had a great time there and great people. And hopefully we can keep a, hope you guys can keep it going cause it's made a difference in a lot of people's lives. You're going to have to come back for the 20th anniversary I'm planning in FY23. I'm told I'm coming back, Janet. Okay. I already got you booked. Does anybody else have a question? Oh, the West Coast. Oh wait, he's taking a phone call. Come on, Rory. Professor Lane, Dr. Lane, how's it going? Mr. O'Connor, how are you? I'm doing very well. Just wanted to take this time. You know, I've joined your past couple of lectures and very appreciative of everything you've done for Fairfield. I will say that some of the bright moments of learning at Fairfield was always with you and with my knucklehead friends in the class as well. So very appreciative of it. And if you ever in San Francisco, just let me know. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Oh, and by the way, I hope you're happy with how the rugby program is going right now. It's going well. It's going very well. Yeah, it's a beautiful thing to watch. So hopefully, hopefully we'll have you there at the alumni weekend next weekend, or not next weekend, this coming year. Yes, I hope to make it, sir. Thank you, Rory. All right, I don't see any other hands, Dr. Phil. I don't know how to- Oh, Mr. Wolf. Yeah, how are you, Mr. Lane? How are you, doctor? From the class of 87, just want to say thank you very much. I do, you mentioned the rugby. I do appreciate everything that you did for the rugby team. I know you stepped in after PID and you were a fantastic leader and provided the leadership that we needed throughout those years. So thank you very much for all of that. Thank you for being you. And I appreciate it very much. So thank you. Patrick, thanks for making the time for me. Appreciate it, my friend. Of course. Tom Bitlow from DC. Dr. Lane, thank you again for everything. Class of 2009, I recognize so many people on this call. It's a testament to all the students that you've made an impact on. So very much appreciate everything. Not only in the classroom, but out of the classroom as well. I had the pleasure of doing the Fed Challenge with you and a couple others on this call, Frank has included. I also will forget our class and money in banking in 2008, in September of 2008 when that bank failed, as we all know. So that was a fun day when we threw out the textbook and just read the news. So really fond memories that I won't forget, especially the cannoli in contest as well, which I always mention on music. So really appreciate everything in the classroom and out. Thank you very much. Thank you, Thomas. Stay well, my friend. Edwin Meyer. Professor Lane just as a student athlete, just want to say thank you for looking after us. And especially the soccer team that really needed your help and guidance. And probably still did to this day, but thank you for everything in your service and tenure there at Fairfield there. Thank you, Ed. Appreciate it. You doing well? Very well. Thank you. Good, good. Hello, Kim. Kim Golub. Kim Crudo Golub. Yes, Dr. Lane. It's Kim Crudo Golub. How are you? How are the girls? They are great. Thank you very much. They are now old enough to be babysitting just like I was babysitting your kids. Jeannie's right there. Well, hello, Mrs. Lane. I will still forever call you Dr. Lane and Mrs. Lane. I can't undo it. I just wanted to say thank you for all the years and the memories and I'm gonna try not to cry because you're such a big part of my life growing up and I love it. So congratulations on your retirement. Congratulations on your beautiful family and grandchildren. I love to see pictures of you smiling because I never saw that until you were a grandfather. So it is a lovely thing to see and I'm so proud and happy for you. Thank you for everything. Say hello to yourself, Farming. I will. I'm sorry I'm in the car here in between soccer games and domestic practice and all the fun things that have to happen. But they all, my kids know who you are. Like you're just, you changed our lives and we're so thankful for it. Thank you, Kim. Stay well, my friend. You too. MB, Marybeth Combs. Hi, Dr. Lane. Hello, Dr. Combs. Congratulations on your retirement. I just wanna tell you that I became an econ major. I took my first econ class with you, became an econ major because of you. Was inspired so much by you and Larry and Kathy Nantz and thank you for being a great teacher in the classroom and outside the classroom. I still remember your two little girls rolling down the hill at my field happy games when you came to cheer on our team and I can't tell you how grateful I am that you were both a great teacher and just a great supporter of things that students did. So you encouraged me to go to Iowa, made the offhand comment that McCluskey was there, changed my life. And every year when I teach macro, I chant, I repeat things verbatim that you used to say because you used to stand there and say, the demand schedule, the various price quantity combinations that consumers are willing and able to pay at a given point in time. And you would say it over and over and over again. And every year when I teach that, I tell my students, this is, I'm quoting Phil Lane. So thank you. Thank you, Marybeth. Say hello to Troy Fawney. We'll do. Thank you. Steven White. Mr. White. Dr. Lane, how are you? I'm better for your asking. That's good. I think on my best day, I could be described as an unremarkable student but there were two things I do need to tell you or remind you of. One is that I think I use every single elective I had on your classes because I enjoyed them so much and I was not much of a student but I loved everything you did. And the second thing was, I met my wife and money in banking class. And so it's a story we still tell often all the time. And so there's something a little bit extra special about having had you as a professor at Fairfield. I didn't know that. What's in right here? Say hi. Kate Quirk. Hi. Oh my goodness. Yeah, been a while. God bless you. It goes way beyond economics. It's just, it's everything. Thank you, sir. And take care of the queen. Always. You taught me well. It's great seeing you. Congratulations. Thank you. But the best. Thank you so much, Steven. You got it. We've got a couple more. Dr. Phil Russell. Oh, jeez. Oh yeah. It's been a while. Dr. Phil. Hello, Russ. I just want to say congratulations. Thank you. And there's a reason why I don't remember how many way back when there were 20 classes we needed for my economics degree. And you, my professor for 10. And there's a reason. It's because of you. Thank you. And yeah, you kicked my butt on those Doctors of Drunk Intramural Games and Doctors of Deng Faubal Games too, but it was always a blast. And like I said, there's a reason why I am, why I wanted to be here. So thank you. Thank you. And enjoy your time. Thank you, good sir. Thank you. I can hear it. Okay. What about Fran Welch? Dr. Lane. How are you, Fran? Or Francesca, as you used to call me. Well, that's because you met some guy named Welch that had to make sure you understood, you know? That's right. That's right. Yes, he's sitting here too, wishing you well. And for the class of 93, we just, I think I majored and minored in Dr. Lane. Myself and Krista Maris, I think we both majored and minored in, maybe a double minor with Dr. Deek, but I can't, even those 8 a.m. classes and I still came back for more. Monday and Wednesday, 8 a.m. I had you, motion testers. And I still came back and that is definitely a testament to a college student coming back. And I just can't thank you enough for all the guidance you gave me those years. You were my mentor, you were my counselor, you were my friends. And I just, I hope you have a wonderful retirement, you and the queen and those grand babies. So thank you so much for all you did for Kevin and I. Kevin, he's a math major, but he minor didn't die. But he needed a lot of help. Yeah, the whole baseball team, that's... That's a whole nother story. It hasn't changed, by the way. It's still wonderful, but you know. Thank you. You're welcome, thank you very much. How about Leah Wilch? Hi, Dr. Lane, it's Leah Raymond from the class of 99. That's the Raymond I know, the Walsh I don't know. Yeah, Leah Raymond. I just want, I'm so excited for you. I have to tell you, you were one of the best professors I've ever had. And I tell, I'm now a teacher myself. And I tell all my students about you. I'm like, okay, this is like a phileneism, blah, blah, blah. And they're like, we have no idea who this white guy is. Like, he's a teacher of a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. But I wanna thank you for everything. I remember our money in banking class in the spring 99 was standing room only, literally. That the times I would come late, which was often because my time management still stinks. Like we would be searching for seats because you were and you are still such a great professor that everybody wanted to take your class and it was full of seniors. So I wanna thank you. You've been a real inspiration over the years. And I still remember so much of what you said. And I wish you the best. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right. And we have Peter, Peter Rapetto. Dr. Lane, how's everything going? I don't know. Have you had a transfusion yet? Not tonight, at least. But I, again, I mean, I think what everybody said on the call speaks for itself and I certainly can't thank you enough for everything you've meant for me and my career. I think, you know, before I went to Fairfield, it was already predetermined that I was gonna take a Dr. Lane class. Little did I know that that was gonna turn into, I believe, 10 or 11 classes taking with you. So again, echoing the comments and not only did I minor in Lane, I certainly majored in Dr. Lane. But congratulations on your retirement. Hope you enjoy the time with your family. And again, thank you for everything that you've meant for me and everybody else on this call. How's your golf game, Peter? It sucks. Are you working too much? Thank you, Peter. You're my best mom and dad, please. Yeah, absolutely. I don't see any more hands. Oh, wait, Ryan, can you zoom in in with a hand? Yeah, gotta follow my friend, Mr. Rapetto and just say congratulations, Dr. Lane. From the class of 2015, we still have great memories and we talk about it every day, every week, about our time and money in banking. And yeah, just wanna say that I feel like what I learned at Fairfield and your class in particular, it's just given me such a great foundation to go on and have success career-wise and grad school and everything. So thank you so much and enjoy your well-deserved retirement. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan. Stay well, my friend. Katie Hoey and a little one on the lap. Hi, Dr. Lane, Katie Boyte. My little one here, also known as Mini May. But thank you, I'm half of all the athletes. You were always there for us as an advisor, a friend coming to games, anything we needed. We really just appreciate you. When I came back to campus, I was always made sure I, for recruiting, I came back and said, hey, are you around? Let's grab coffee, whatever. And your grandchildren are gorgeous. Get to see Bridget's Instagram and Facebook. So it's great to see. But congratulations and enjoy your time off. Thank you and you have a ball with those kids. I will enjoy it. Thanks, Katie. Sheila Murphy. Hello, Ms. Murphy. Hello, Dr. Lane. How are you? Wonderful. I couldn't let Kim talk all by ourselves. We were a match set in college back in the day. So I want to say welcome back to Massachusetts full-time. Congratulations and hello to Mrs. Lane. Thank you, Sheila. For those of you who don't know it, both Sheila and Kim babysat our kids. So they have a special relationship with the crew. And they're great. They're great, ladies. Mr. Fetch. Hey, Dr. Lane, how are you? How are you surviving with all those kids? It's day by day. I just want to say, just really echo what everyone else said, but I want to say thank you very much for all the time and effort that you really put into every single person that you teach. We really don't deserve how much you gave. And it was really more than, in my opinion, most other professors gave. And you really took the time and effort and went above and beyond. I remember meeting you early in the morning, late at night. You really adjusted your schedule for your students and I think it shows. Thank you, Owen. And we need to get a drink. Yes, sir, we do. That sounds like a plan. You have all my information, sir. I do. Thank you. We'll get together. Chris Young from Chicago. Hey, Dr. Lane. Hey, it's been a while. A couple of years. Yeah, not too long, I guess. But yeah, so I'm going to work right off Elbert. We were actually in the same class, so 16. So I just want to say a big thank you. Obviously, working off what everyone's saying, your passion is just, can't be compared. I got so excited just going to the classes and it was a fun time. So it was just really cool to have a class with that type of setting. So I just want to give you a big huge thank you. Congratulations, enjoy your retirement, enjoy the family. I just had my first niece, not a kid yet. I'm not quite there yet. But so I understand playing with the little ones, nothing like it. So yeah, if you're around in Chicago, let me know, you got to have a drink. Thank you, Chris. I'll hold that ticket. All right, and to wrap us up, Tracy Flynn. Hold on, Tracy, you're on mute. Good evening to everyone. It's been wonderful to see familiar faces. Most importantly, it's been great to hear the accent from Massachusetts. Dr. Lane, I was class of 97 MBA. I had you for a couple of classes, but I also worked at Fairfield for nine years. So I saw you around and I saw you guys playing intramural basketball. I worked at athletics as an administrator at Fairfield and there was a point where I had considered, I don't know if this is really what I want to do. I was early, it was my first job, but I wasn't sure, shared some thoughts and they resonated with me and I stuck with it. And here I am, 30 years later, still working in higher education and athletics. And actually I am pivoting towards a more academic advising role for my second career. But what your advice did for me was to keep me on track to have the opportunity to work with thousands of student athletes over the course of 30 years and to learn and to grow from them and their experiences and celebrate their successes. And if it wasn't for you, I would not likely have been in that position. So thank you so much. And from one Irish woman to an Irish man, go Red Sox. All right, thank you, Tracy. Thank you for your kind words. Thank you so much. Kristen Smith. Hi, Professor Lane. How are you? I am good. I am actually an attorney these days. So I didn't really go into the field of economics, but I majored in it. I had you for at least half my classes. I was lucky enough to get into some of the classes that were all seniors because of my scholarship at the time. And I'll just never forget, you were absolutely my most charismatic teacher. I'll never forget the time somebody's phone started ringing and he said it was his mom and you encouraged him to pick it up in the middle of class. And I just, I always loved that I could wear my Red Sox hat to class and I knew you wouldn't pick on me if I did. Absolutely, just loved having you and just wanted to say hi and welcome back to Massachusetts. I hope you enjoy your retirement. Thank you. I'm happy to be here. Let me tell you. Hope to see you around. Yes, if I'm lucky. I'm on the show, sure, so. Okay, you're on your version of God's country. Oh yes. Super, thank you so much. Enjoy. All right, Sean. Sean Domen, how are you? All right, thank you. Dr. Lane, I was one of your first students back in 82, 83, I guess. So I don't know that you'd remember me, but I was definitely one of the more unremarkable students, but the one thing I do remember is you talked about Dr. Walters and her money in banking class. And when I took that class, I remember on one of the tests she wrote, there is no way you're gonna make it to Wall Street. And you, you though, had faith in me and I did end up getting to Wall Street and worked out okay. And I appreciate everything you did. And I do remember seeing you maybe 30 years, 35 years after that at a rugby thing. And if you put me on, but you came over me and said, hi, Sean. I don't know, just there's a lot of Sean's out there and you got lucky. But anyway, I do appreciate it. You were not totally unremarkable, Sean. I hate to tell you that. Thank you, sir. Enjoy your retirement, all right? I'm going to Sean, thank you so much. And stay well. Thanks. All right, well, thank you again. The incredible number of people on this webinar is a testament to how much you are loved, Dr. Lane. You are a true model of how to follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius Loyola. So on behalf of our students and our alumni, we are so grateful to you for sharing your gifts with us, both inside and outside of the classroom these last 40 years. You have truly made a difference at Fairfield University. Thank you and God bless you and your family. Thank you so much, Janet. Jack, give me your call if you want. Doc, are you there? I'm here, Jack. On behalf of the best fed challenge team that Fairfield has ever had, Dr. Lane, you are the best. I can't imagine a better professor I've ever had from the minute I saw you swing a golf swing and golf club when I cat-eat for you in 2015 before I came to Fairfield, I was like, that guy is gonna be my mentor at Fairfield. I am so happy that I have been able to meet you. I saw the Queen Paulina on the path today coming back from work. She's doing great. We are reminiscing about our times at Fairfield and I'm happy as the climate had tied, knowing that you are retiring and doing a great job. I love you, Dr. Lane. Jack, you're one of the best. Don't ever forget it, my friend. We'll be in touch. All right, thank you all, one and all. Dr. Phil, thank you so much. God bless, thank you all for being with us tonight. Take care. Thank you, Janet. This was fun.