Acconci: The Student
Edward F. Callahan, professor emeritus of English who taught at Holy Cross for more than 30 years until his retirement in 1990, first encountered the young Acconci in his own classroom in 1959.
It was the late 1950s when Rev. Thomas Grace, S.J., then-head of the English department, and I realized the talent and promise of Vito Hannibal Acconci, a novice freshman. The following four years I worked with him, and the 50 ensuing years of witnessing his achievement, were one of my outstanding joys about teaching at Holy Cross. How fondly I recall sharing his devotion to Shakespeare, Joyce, Toscanini, Galileo, Ferlinghetti, Warhol. Encouraging and controlling the Acconci talent and creative adventures were the redeeming challenges of the profession.