From his unique humor to his diverse teaching style, Mr. Sullivan appeals to both faculty and students as a thoughtful character. To the lament of past students and his colleagues, Mr. Sullivan has recently announced his retirement publicly to his three classes. Speaking with Mr. Sullivan, he seemed to have an ideal retirement vision in his mind. He is “thinking of moving to a place with a lighthouse up near Fort Brad or somewhere in Oregon.”
Mr. Sullivan was also quite fond of the idea of “go[ing] back home to [his] father’s home to the northeast part of Nebraska, not far from Missouri River.” Both are equally significant in his decision making and he is truly open to either. When asked of his fondest memories, Sullivan recalled 37 years ago in Coscq Hall, a building no longer on campus, essentially where Carney is now located.
“I was teaching a class and noticed one of my students was sleeping. I started writing more than speaking and [wrote] ‘I don’t want you to draw any attention to him’. And so, [the students] started walking out as slowly as mice. Then, I went to greet the next class, and I told them what was happening. He finally comes to his senses, and it was a shock! He started screaming, and he ran out the door. Finally, some people caught hold of him,” he said.
His second story takes place with the same class and might possibly be one of the most remarkable high school pranks to occur on Bellarmine campus.
“This same class decided that it’d be a fun thing to break into the classroom and take off all the materials off the desk and fix them to the ceiling. So, you have all these rows of desks and [the] teacher’s desk on the ceiling. When I walked in, I just looked back at them and said, ‘Good job’, then promptly gave them all Justice Under God, which they cheered about and gleefully ran to the dean’s office to get their JUGs.”
Mr. Sullivan will always be a favorite teacher in the eyes of any Bell. We wish him the best, as he embarks on new adventures.
It was Kostka Hall! Have a fun and productive retirement Mr. Sullivan.