Being Erased!

     I'm being erased. Well not exactly just me! About 130 other VGs are being erased too. But, frankly, to tell the truth, there are thousands of VGs being wiped out right now as I am writing this. And–We–Are–Mad! Okay, now that I have you completely flummoxed, I’ll explain.

    

     It all happened last week–out of the blue. I received an email saying that my high school was being dissolved, disbanding, disappearing, being terminated. Villa Maria Academy for girls, established in 1892, which is nearly 130-years-old, is vanishing from the face of Erie, Pennsylvania.

    

     By now, you may have guessed that VGs are Villa Girls from Villa Maria Academy. VMA is one of two all-girl high schools in Erie. Cathedral Prep, or Prep, as it’s often called, is the all-boys high school. It’s been that way mostly forever, except for the few years that Villa allowed boys to register. Villa Maria Academy and Cathedral Prep are an important part of Erie’s history. But, Villa is being erased. It’s going to be absorbed by Prep. Villa will lose its identity, its colors of blue and white, its mascot, and more importantly its name.

    

     I have nothing against Prep. In fact, my husband is a graduate of Prep. I attended many Prep events with him in high school and have many Prep friends. But, it’s wrong to strip a school and its classmates of their identity, swallowing them up without a trace of their history.
    

     I understand that it may be a financial decision, but to obliterate the history of one of the schools is wrong!

    

     My pride in my school is strong and my memories will not fade.

 

     Dedicated to all VGs, but especially my classmates in the Class of 1966.

See you soon.

donna

---