In the comments, there is an anonymous report that students who have been accepted to Ave Maria University are being mailed copies of Tom Monaghan's biography, Pizza Tiger. If this rumor is correct (and from my research, it appears reliable - can others confirm?), then chalk this up as another example of hubris on the part of Monaghan, right next to naming the sports team after himself and inducting himself into his own Hall of Fame. The funny thing is that a year and a half ago, when I posted about Monaghan naming AMU the "Gyrenes" because Monaghan is himself a Gyrene, I wrote the following:

Monaghan named the team name after himself. That is outrageous. I think that naming the school team after yourself is right up there with declaring your birthday a school holiday or requiring all first year students to read Pizza Tiger. Fine, you're the founder and chancellor. Make a commemorative plaque for yourself, or name the library after yourself, but don't name the team name after yourself.

So..... a year and half ago, I came up with a hypothetical example of outrageous Monaghan hubris off the top of my head, and it has now become reality. (Okay, so maybe first-year students are not currently required to read Pizza Tiger but we're almost there.) Instances like these make AMU look like a school trapped in a cult of personality. How can anyone look at AMU and consider it an institution that takes academics seriously? Is there no reasonable AMU administrator who has the courage to dissuade Monaghan from such foolishness?

And when is the Ave Maria School of Law going to start sending out copies of Pizza Tiger to its incoming students?

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