By Madison Weber ’23, Staff Writer and Social Media Editor

St. John Fisher College’s Board of Trustees recently voted to not rescind Rudy Giuliani’s degree and there has been a variety of responses to the decision —  including alum Tim McMahon’s ’66 decision to give his annual donation to another school, Middlebury College.

According to news reports, Middlebury College, in Vermont, made a public announcement that they were rescinding Giuliani’s honorary degree within a week of the Capitol Riots. At Giuliani’s alma mater, Manhattan College President Brennan O’Donnel called Giuliani, “one of the loudest voices fueling the anger, hatred, and violence that spilled out.”

MORE | Alumni, faculty disappointed by Board’s decision to not rescind Giuliani degree

St. John Fisher College’s Board of Trustees took over a month to announce that they would be taking no action against Giuliani. 

Fisher alumn McMahon says because of this, he made the decision to take his donation to St. John Fisher and instead give it to Middlebury College. According to McMahonn, several of his fellow alumni that he remained in contact with decided not to donate altogether. The Cardinal Courier has reached out to several alumni for comment, but did not get a response.

McMahon felt donating to Middlebury would be a positive form of protest. He hopes to be able to honor the courageous decision of the Middlebury College Board of Trustees and president.

On April 28, Giuliani’s apartment was raided by the FBI after a search warrant was obtained to seize his phones and computers. 

McMahon says this was even more frustrating to read. He goes as far as to refer to the situation as a “painful stain on my college.” As an alum, McMahon states that he has always been proud to have graduated from St. John Fisher and has always reacted to anything, “that threatens the reputation of Fisher.”

McMahon does not believe that this is “cancel culture” as many have claimed. “Some things are simply wrong. Inherently.”

One of those things, McMahon feels, is “to incite a mob to attack our nation’s capital, the seat of democracy.”

McMahon, first heard about the discussion regarding Giuliani and St. John Fisher College when he saw an online petition with over 400 signatures. Deciding he wanted to be a part of it, he signed it and went on to write a letter to the Board of Trustees when they voiced their decision to not rescind. 

McMahon saw no response to his letter and called their silence and inaction “deafening.” He hopes that the Board “places the reputation and good name of St. John Fisher College first. Not to continue to honor their inaction towards a dishonorable individual.”

McMahon does believe St. John Fisher’s Board to be “good, honest people,” but goes on to say that “good people can make bad decisions.”