By Julian Routh | News Editor
_______________________________________________________________________
UPDATE (4:56 PM September 20): The Rev. Daniel Walsh spoke to The Duke, saying Vojtko was allowed to stay at the Laval House for a month with daily meals. Read the full story here for all the updates on the university’s treatment of Margaret Mary Vojtko, including reaction to the Post-Gazette column and statements from Daniel Kovalik.
_______________________________________________________________________
UPDATE (4:45 PM September 18): In response to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette‘s opinions column by Daniel Kovalik posted online today, Duquesne University Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry Daniel Walsh issued the following statement:
“I was incredulous after reading Daniel Kovalik’s op-ed piece about Margaret Mary Votjko. I knew Margaret Mary well. When we learned of problems with her home she was invited to live with us in the formation community at Laval House on campus, where she resided for several weeks over the past year. Over the course of Margaret Mary’s illness I, along with other Spiritan priests, visited with her regularly. In addition, the University and the Spiritan priests at Duquesne offered several other types of assistance to her. Mr. Kovalik’s use of an unfortunate death to serve an alternative agenda is sadly exploitive, and is made worse because his description of the circumstances bears no resemblance to reality.”
_______________________________________________________________________
An adjunct professor who taught at Duquesne for over 25 years died Sept. 1 from complications of a heart attack she suffered in August.
Margaret Mary Vojtko, 83, taught French classes in the university’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures before school officials told her she was not being asked to return for the Fall 2013 semester, friends and family said.
Vojtko suffered from ovarian cancer and was undergoing treatment since a recurrence last year, according to nephew John Vojtko. She had just completed her first week of treatment on Aug. 16, the day she went into cardiac arrest.
After the heart attack, Vojtko was put into the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at UPMC Mercy Hospital for 12 days. According to John Vojtko, Margaret Mary was “able to breathe on her own, but never regained consciousness.” Under the advice of the physician who oversaw Margaret Mary’s care, John Vojtko transferred his aunt to hospice care at West Penn Hospital in Bloomfield, where she died three days later.
John Vojtko said he drove Margaret Mary home from Duquesne the Saturday before she suffered the heart attack.
“She was transferring her materials at her desk, her textbooks and all of her teaching materials,” Vojtko said. “We took those things to storage. Afterward, we stopped for some lunch and I took her to her home.”
In the spring, Vojtko was notified she was not going to be hired for the fall semester, adjunct professor and friend Joshua Zelesnick said.
Department chair Edith Krause declined to say why Vojtko was not asked to return, but did offer her condolences.
“I regret very much her sudden passing,” Krause said. “I have respected her dedication to her students and to the profession.”
Zelesnick said he got to know Vojtko personally during his adjunct faculty union organization efforts.
According to Zelesnick, Vojtko would sometimes sleep overnight on the couch in the department because she would “lose energy all of the sudden” as a result of chemotherapy. She was also afraid of falling on her way to the bus, which could have been “life threatening” because of the blood clots in her legs, Zelesnick said.
“[Vojtko] said she was doing this because she was too weak and didn’t want to miss her classes and her students,” Zelesnick said. “This was a recurring problem. She didn’t want to miss work.”
Zelesnick said Vojtko told him she was escorted off campus once after she was caught sleeping. After that, she would regularly pass the night at an Eat n’ Park and come back to Duquesne on the bus the next morning.
Over the last winter Vojtko’s furnace broke and she couldn’t afford to fix it, so she rarely stayed at home, Zelesnick said.
Vojtko, who was not married and did not have children, refused to stay at other people’s houses because she was “such a proud woman,” Zelesnick said.
Margarita Winikoff, one of Vojtko’s colleagues in the department, said Vojtko was a “very dear lady” who expressed herself in an “eloquent manner.”
“Whenever I came across Margaret, we had a very nice gentle relationship,” Winikoff said. “I respected her. I loved her and I love the memory of her.”
Margaret Mary’s funeral was held on Saturday at Epiphany Catholic Church in Uptown.
-
-
-
-
-
Talk about a HYPOCRISY in all caps from Daniel Walsh. Why is Charles J. Dougherty raking in nearly $700,000 and this woman was literally allowed to live in such abject poverty? I am glad the hypocrisy is being revealed. This is just reprehensible.
Talk about a HYPOCRISY in all caps from Daniel Walsh. Why is Charles J. Dougherty raking in nearly $700,000 and this woman was literally allowed to live in such abject poverty? I am glad the hypocrisy is being revealed. This is just reprehensible.
Talk about a HYPOCRISY in all caps from Daniel Walsh. Why is Charles J. Dougherty raking in nearly $700,000 and this woman was literally allowed to live in such abject poverty? I am glad the hypocrisy is being revealed. This is just reprehensible.
This is a horrible situation all the way around. I am left with a question after reading this and the original article about it – did she not have social security and medicare? Something doesn’t fully add up.
Uh…I hate to tell you this, but seniors have to pay for supplemental insurance to pick up what Medicare doesn’t. It’s not cheap, but it’s necessary.
Also, Social Security is based on what you made the last time you worked prior to retirement age (which in this woman’s case was 65). She probably was getting around $1000 or less per month.
Try buying food, paying for supplemental medical insurance, paying your utilities and insurance, and covering your property taxes on *that*, young man. Then maybe you’ll see that the only thing that “doesn’t fully add up” is this poor woman’s budget.
You are absolutely correct. I find myself in a similar situation. A $1000 per month, minus Medicare, minus supplementary, and I work 12-15 hours per week teaching at a nearby college for $15.00 per hour. Calculate the hourly rate for adjunct instructors, and they are only paid for the time in the classroom with probably about 30 minutes of prep per hour spent.
“did she not have social security and medicare”
I’m sure she did. There’s a 20% copay for cancer treatment under medicare. Typical chemotherapy bills I have seen in my own family ran from $500,000 to $2,000,000 per course of treatment. So the copay will run between $100,000 and $400,000 per round of treatment. The typical situation for a Medicare beneficiary with cancer is to lose their house and all of their savings in an attempt to manage the required copays.
This is a horrible situation all the way around. I am left with a question after reading this and the original article about it – did she not have social security and medicare? Something doesn’t fully add up.
Uh…I hate to tell you this, but seniors have to pay for supplemental insurance to pick up what Medicare doesn’t. It’s not cheap, but it’s necessary.
Also, Social Security is based on what you made the last time you worked prior to retirement age (which in this woman’s case was 65). She probably was getting around $1000 or less per month.
Try buying food, paying for supplemental medical insurance, paying your utilities and insurance, and covering your property taxes on *that*, young man. Then maybe you’ll see that the only thing that “doesn’t fully add up” is this poor woman’s budget.
You are absolutely correct. I find myself in a similar situation. A $1000 per month, minus Medicare, minus supplementary, and I work 12-15 hours per week teaching at a nearby college for $15.00 per hour. Calculate the hourly rate for adjunct instructors, and they are only paid for the time in the classroom with probably about 30 minutes of prep per hour spent.
This is a horrible situation all the way around. I am left with a question after reading this and the original article about it – did she not have social security and medicare? Something doesn’t fully add up.
Uh…I hate to tell you this, but seniors have to pay for supplemental insurance to pick up what Medicare doesn’t. It’s not cheap, but it’s necessary.
Also, Social Security is based on what you made the last time you worked prior to retirement age (which in this woman’s case was 65). She probably was getting around $1000 or less per month.
Try buying food, paying for supplemental medical insurance, paying your utilities and insurance, and covering your property taxes on *that*, young man. Then maybe you’ll see that the only thing that “doesn’t fully add up” is this poor woman’s budget.
You are absolutely correct. I find myself in a similar situation. A $1000 per month, minus Medicare, minus supplementary, and I work 12-15 hours per week teaching at a nearby college for $15.00 per hour. Calculate the hourly rate for adjunct instructors, and they are only paid for the time in the classroom with probably about 30 minutes of prep per hour spent.
Seriously, people, Think! This poor woman did live for 58 years before she was hired at Duquesne. Where is her pension, her social security, her Medicare or Medicaid, FAMILY? Dig further. There is a terrible campaign going on here. If all of you are so worried about this now, where were you before? Actually Duquesne was very merciful letting her teach into her 80’s.
Dear students: don’t fall for this. Would you let your grandmother or great aunt sleep in a restaurant or an office?
What makes you think she HAD a pension? Thanks to the rape of the middle class that started under Ronald Reagan, most Americans can rely on nothing but their Social Security when they grow old, and the Republicans (led by Paul Ryan) want to gut THAT.
As for your appalling lack of compassion (and your apologia for a school that denied a TWENTY-FIVE YEAR EMPLOYEE any sort of severance, health insurance, or retirement package), may you never, ever know what it is like to be forced to work into your 80s just to keep a roof over your head.
Shame on you.
Exactly. Well said.
Seriously, people, Think! This poor woman did live for 58 years before she was hired at Duquesne. Where is her pension, her social security, her Medicare or Medicaid, FAMILY? Dig further. There is a terrible campaign going on here. If all of you are so worried about this now, where were you before? Actually Duquesne was very merciful letting her teach into her 80’s.
Dear students: don’t fall for this. Would you let your grandmother or great aunt sleep in a restaurant or an office?
What makes you think she HAD a pension? Thanks to the rape of the middle class that started under Ronald Reagan, most Americans can rely on nothing but their Social Security when they grow old, and the Republicans (led by Paul Ryan) want to gut THAT.
As for your appalling lack of compassion (and your apologia for a school that denied a TWENTY-FIVE YEAR EMPLOYEE any sort of severance, health insurance, or retirement package), may you never, ever know what it is like to be forced to work into your 80s just to keep a roof over your head.
Shame on you.
Exactly. Well said.
Seriously, people, Think! This poor woman did live for 58 years before she was hired at Duquesne. Where is her pension, her social security, her Medicare or Medicaid, FAMILY? Dig further. There is a terrible campaign going on here. If all of you are so worried about this now, where were you before? Actually Duquesne was very merciful letting her teach into her 80’s.
Dear students: don’t fall for this. Would you let your grandmother or great aunt sleep in a restaurant or an office?
What makes you think she HAD a pension? Thanks to the rape of the middle class that started under Ronald Reagan, most Americans can rely on nothing but their Social Security when they grow old, and the Republicans (led by Paul Ryan) want to gut THAT.
As for your appalling lack of compassion (and your apologia for a school that denied a TWENTY-FIVE YEAR EMPLOYEE any sort of severance, health insurance, or retirement package), may you never, ever know what it is like to be forced to work into your 80s just to keep a roof over your head.
Shame on you.
Exactly. Well said.
Where were her six nieces and nephews in all of this?
Where were her six nieces and nephews in all of this?
Where were her six nieces and nephews in all of this?
I am heartened by the responses of Duquesne’s faculty and students to the death of Margaret Mary Vojtko. I am an adjunct working in New Mexico where the cost of living is lower than back east, and am always amazed that adjuncts are getting paid even less than me and living off it, or better said, surviving off it. I’m glad most of you see through Daniel Walsh, who should be making a public apology instead of trying to save face. Wake up Daniel, something’s wrong here.
Sure, Vojtko loved her job. I’m also sure there are plenty of CEOs, doctors and lawyers who love their jobs, too. All professionals deserve a professional wage.
And no one who works until they’re 83, whether they be a professional or not, deserves to die the way Mary Margaret Vojtko did.
This is a Catholic University? I can hardly believe it’s an American University.
I am heartened by the responses of Duquesne’s faculty and students to the death of Margaret Mary Vojtko. I am an adjunct working in New Mexico where the cost of living is lower than back east, and am always amazed that adjuncts are getting paid even less than me and living off it, or better said, surviving off it. I’m glad most of you see through Daniel Walsh, who should be making a public apology instead of trying to save face. Wake up Daniel, something’s wrong here.
Sure, Vojtko loved her job. I’m also sure there are plenty of CEOs, doctors and lawyers who love their jobs, too. All professionals deserve a professional wage.
And no one who works until they’re 83, whether they be a professional or not, deserves to die the way Mary Margaret Vojtko did.
This is a Catholic University? I can hardly believe it’s an American University.
I am heartened by the responses of Duquesne’s faculty and students to the death of Margaret Mary Vojtko. I am an adjunct working in New Mexico where the cost of living is lower than back east, and am always amazed that adjuncts are getting paid even less than me and living off it, or better said, surviving off it. I’m glad most of you see through Daniel Walsh, who should be making a public apology instead of trying to save face. Wake up Daniel, something’s wrong here.
Sure, Vojtko loved her job. I’m also sure there are plenty of CEOs, doctors and lawyers who love their jobs, too. All professionals deserve a professional wage.
And no one who works until they’re 83, whether they be a professional or not, deserves to die the way Mary Margaret Vojtko did.
This is a Catholic University? I can hardly believe it’s an American University.
“Catholic schools, especially those with significant financial resources, should undertake to provide a ‘living wage’ for their lowest paid employees. And as a matter of urgency, they should take the lead in American higher education in providing just compensation for adjunct faculty. The exploitation of such folk should end on Catholic campuses.”
— Wilson D. Miscamble, “The Corporate University,” America, 31 July 2006
http://americamagazine.org/issue/579/article/corporate-university
“Catholic schools, especially those with significant financial resources, should undertake to provide a ‘living wage’ for their lowest paid employees. And as a matter of urgency, they should take the lead in American higher education in providing just compensation for adjunct faculty. The exploitation of such folk should end on Catholic campuses.”
— Wilson D. Miscamble, “The Corporate University,” America, 31 July 2006
http://americamagazine.org/issue/579/article/corporate-university
“Catholic schools, especially those with significant financial resources, should undertake to provide a ‘living wage’ for their lowest paid employees. And as a matter of urgency, they should take the lead in American higher education in providing just compensation for adjunct faculty. The exploitation of such folk should end on Catholic campuses.”
— Wilson D. Miscamble, “The Corporate University,” America, 31 July 2006
http://americamagazine.org/issue/579/article/corporate-university
Where are her relatives? Nieces or nephews? How could you turn a blind eye when your great aunt had to sleep in the school sofa? It’s sad but seems there is more to this story.
Where are her relatives? Nieces or nephews? How could you turn a blind eye when your great aunt had to sleep in the school sofa? It’s sad but seems there is more to this story.
Where are her relatives? Nieces or nephews? How could you turn a blind eye when your great aunt had to sleep in the school sofa? It’s sad but seems there is more to this story.
I am a Duquesne alumni and had Madam Votjko as a professor freshman year. I am seriously perturbed by this story. I’m sure her siutation was brought on by a combination of factors, and the public may never get the whole story from the media, but the whole thing is disgusting. I understand Duquesne “technically” did not do anything wrong, however, the amount of money they spend on expenses that don’t matter is appalling. Every year, they would display an ice sculpture of the nativity on Academic walk that would inevitably melt due to Pittsburgh’s unpredictable weather patterns or be destroyed by drunk students after a day. I also received an email today for homecoming advertising a free mimosa brunch for the business school. It seems Duquesne will only spend money to enhance its image or towards people they think matter. Perhaps they could spend some of that cash on their educators instead of mimosa brunches and ice scultures. Duquesne needs to start paying professors decent wages and offer benefits. I will never be donating money to them nor will I return for any sort of homecoming event. I’m now an IUP alumni, where I received my master’s degree. NOT a Duquesne alumni.
I am a Duquesne alumni and had Madam Votjko as a professor freshman year. I am seriously perturbed by this story. I’m sure her siutation was brought on by a combination of factors, and the public may never get the whole story from the media, but the whole thing is disgusting. I understand Duquesne “technically” did not do anything wrong, however, the amount of money they spend on expenses that don’t matter is appalling. Every year, they would display an ice sculpture of the nativity on Academic walk that would inevitably melt due to Pittsburgh’s unpredictable weather patterns or be destroyed by drunk students after a day. I also received an email today for homecoming advertising a free mimosa brunch for the business school. It seems Duquesne will only spend money to enhance its image or towards people they think matter. Perhaps they could spend some of that cash on their educators instead of mimosa brunches and ice scultures. Duquesne needs to start paying professors decent wages and offer benefits. I will never be donating money to them nor will I return for any sort of homecoming event. I’m now an IUP alumni, where I received my master’s degree. NOT a Duquesne alumni.
I am a Duquesne alumni and had Madam Votjko as a professor freshman year. I am seriously perturbed by this story. I’m sure her siutation was brought on by a combination of factors, and the public may never get the whole story from the media, but the whole thing is disgusting. I understand Duquesne “technically” did not do anything wrong, however, the amount of money they spend on expenses that don’t matter is appalling. Every year, they would display an ice sculpture of the nativity on Academic walk that would inevitably melt due to Pittsburgh’s unpredictable weather patterns or be destroyed by drunk students after a day. I also received an email today for homecoming advertising a free mimosa brunch for the business school. It seems Duquesne will only spend money to enhance its image or towards people they think matter. Perhaps they could spend some of that cash on their educators instead of mimosa brunches and ice scultures. Duquesne needs to start paying professors decent wages and offer benefits. I will never be donating money to them nor will I return for any sort of homecoming event. I’m now an IUP alumni, where I received my master’s degree. NOT a Duquesne alumni.