Elder High School
Elder High School is a parochial high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The cornerstone was laid in 1922. Named for William Henry Elder, 3rd bishop and Archbishop of Cincinnati, the school was the first Catholic Archdiocesan high school in the city. Eventually twelve other such schools were constructed in the Greater Cincinnati area. Eleven original parishes of the Western Hills were the true founders of the school and served as "feeder parishes" for students. The first graduating class was in 1923, with eight students graduating in the year of the school's opening. Since its founding, nearly 20,000 students have graduated from the school. The high school is the home of "The Pit" [1], the premier high school football stadium in the city. Construction began in the 1930's and was completed in December 1947. The stadium seats 9,000, although it has held more on many occasions. In November 2004 Elder High School achieved a first of its kind: the broadcast of a varsity football game live on the Internet to more than 10,000 viewers across three continents. [1] The school nickname is the "Panthers". The school newspaper is "The Purple Quill". The annual is called "The Eldorado". The school motto is "Altiora," which means "The Higher Things."
Scandals Elder High School has had multiple accusations of sexual abuse against staff there, including two former principles, Rev. Lawrence Strittmatter and Rev. Thomas Kuhn. These have lead to controversy because of the decision of Archbishop Pilarczyk of the Cincinnati's archdiocese not to suspend some of the priests directly on learning of accusations against them, subsequently Archbishop Pilarchyk has said “I apologize from the bottom of my heart to those who have been abused by Father Strittmatter.” The school was also at the heart of a sex abuse scandal when Reverend David Kelley, was accused of "inappropriate behavior with students" at the school and it was alledged by Konrad Kircher a lawyer suing the local archdiocese, that the archbishop wrote a letter to a treatment center saying students reported Kelley "touched their genitals." but subsequently covered up this knowledge to protect the priest. The scandals at Elder High School and other related ones ended with the conviction of the archdiocese on five misdemeanor crimes for having "knowingly failed" to report information about the abuse, the first time that an archdiocese has been convicted in this way. Apart from Reverend David Kelley, none of the Elder High School staff members accused of abuse has been convicted, the charges and law suits against them having been dropped due to the statute of limitations.
References - New allegation puts priest on leave, Dan Horn and Jennifer Edwards, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 2002-06-10, retrieved 2005-02-01 from http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/06/10/loc_new_allegation_puts.html Priests and Sexual Misconduct, Enquirer Special Section, The Cincinnati Enquirer, retrieved 2005-02-01 from http://www.enquirer.com/priests/ Cincinnati Archdiocese Faces New Allegations Of Sex Abuse Cover-up, Deb Haas, WCPO, 2004-10-12, retrieved 2005-02-01 from http://www.wcpo.com/news/2004/local/10/12/archdiocese.html Archdiocese found guilty of criminal charges, Kimball Perry, Cincinnati Post, 2003-11-21, retrieved 2005-02-01 from http://www.bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/timeline/2003-11-21-Perry-FoundGuilty.htm
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