Why I Give: Supporting the Coach Fisher-Father Gignac Scholarship

The Catholic University of America carries out its mission in service to the Church and nation through the leadership of alumni and faculty who help students discover their full potential. As we seek support for campus initiatives, we also hope to honor staff and faculty who have consistently put students first.

With the support of Megan Marconi Norman, B.A. 1993, and Coach Joseph Fisher, B.A. 1975, we aim to establish an endowed scholarship honoring Coach Joe Fisher and Rev. Francis T. Gignac, S.J., while advancing student opportunities and retention.

Learn about the “Why” behind Megan and Joe’s support.

What drew you to attend Catholic University as a student?

Megan Marconi Norman

Washington, D.C., was about five hours away from my hometown in western Pennsylvania. I had visited campus, but what really sealed the deal was the call I got from Coach Fisher. That was that, I was going to Catholic University.

Coach Joseph Fisher

My high school coach had a relationship with Coach Gerry McGee, the Men’s Track & Field coach at the time. I came to visit campus and meet the athletes, and they made me feel welcome and right at home. I felt it would be a good fit.

Could you describe your relationship with Father Gignac and the role he played in your Catholic University experience?

Megan Marconi Norman

There are so many memories. I remember taking Father Gignac’s Gospel of John class. He hosted a Passover dinner, which was new to me because I grew up in a very small, Catholic town. And then there were times when Coach Fisher would make us run distance – which I hated – Father Gignac would always go on a run with us. He was just always there for you, no matter what you needed. Plus, he was an unbelievable scholar and theologist.

Coach Joseph Fisher

Father Gignac always had a spirit of winning, from the external and the internal. He really recognized people's value. Father Frank actually observed me run during my years at Catholic University.

He was a cheerleader during my years running at Catholic University, and continued cheering not just for the women's cross country and track team when I coached, but for every team. As a matter of fact, when we won our 2012 Cross Country Championship, he was a major cheerleader in the background making it happen.

As Megan knows, if he came to a meet or if he was at practice, he was so encouraging. "Go Megan!" He was there cheering her on. Father Gignac was really connected to the students and passionate about supporting the culture of servant leadership at Catholic University. He passed away at 81, but he was always so grounded. And he was running up until the end. He ran many marathons, even into his later years. To have that kind of commitment is unbelievable.

You know that saying, “If you can’t say something good about someone, don’t say anything at all?” He really practiced that. He recognized the good in every person.

He was not a person to get easily distracted by the challenges externally. He knew his purpose and what he was here to do. Plus, he was a popular teacher. His faith, reason, and spirit was very impactful.

Why was it important for you to support this scholarship?

Megan Marconi Norman

For me, it’s to honor Father Frank,  Coach Fisher, and my connection to Catholic University. That’s my driving force.

An education can alter your life. I worked in higher education for many years after I graduated, and I've seen the difference that a scholarship can make.

Coach Joseph Fisher

It’s to reinforce the impact that Catholic University has had on my life, in terms of my spiritual growth, my servant leadership growth, and my humility. Catholic University has a culture of servant leadership. It promotes helping others. This scholarship is to honor how my education helped me to do what I continue to do today, which has ultimately helped so many kids.

This scholarship is important because it supports students who really need it,  like I did back in the day. I started in Southeast Washington, D.C., supposedly “in poverty,” yet I was very rich and didn't know it due to my servant leadership foundation with faith, reason, and spirituality.

But having the experience of attending Catholic University, it helped bring out my real potential. I want to encourage students to stay at Catholic University, so that they can have that same experience and be endowed as well as I was.

What impact do you hope it will have on the University community for years to come?

Megan Marconi Norman

I hope it continues to honor these two people and, as an endowed scholarship, help students indefinitely. That's the ultimate impact. If one person needs support to be able to finish college, then this will fill that gap.

Coach Joseph Fisher

We want to promote retention at Catholic University. That is the purpose of this.

We want to support students  staying at Catholic University throughout graduation.

More About Megan's Story

What first sparked your interest in competing in track and field, and what ultimately led you to Catholic University?

I must have checked the “track and field” box  on my application and it ended up on Coach Fisher's desk. He called me, and we talked about track and Catholic University and that was it. The team was very small back then – maybe 20 people. It was very family-like.

How would you describe the track and field team experience at Catholic University?

It was great. I met so many amazing people, and it kept me on track. We would all go for dinner after late practices. It was like a home away from home.

We also traveled a lot with the men's team, with Coach McGee and Coach Robinson, so it felt like a bigger community outside just the girls team. I think we would even practice at the same time. It was wonderful.

Looking back, what aspects of your student-athlete experience had the greatest impact on your life after graduation?

One thing was when Coach Fisher started his organization, First Generation College Bound. That opened my eyes. I think my friend and I were one of the first people to host a high school student on campus through First Generation College Bound.

That has had a lasting impact on my life. I went to a small Catholic high school in rural western Pennsylvania . 

How do you hope this scholarship will preserve Coach Fisher and Father Gignac’s legacy and influence future generations of students?

I think it’s important for future students who receive this scholarship to learn about Coach Fisher and Father Gignac, the people that came before them.

More About Joe's Story

As a coach, how did Father Gignac influence your approach to mentoring and developing student-athletes?

One thing I can say about Father Gignac, he would get excited about every single student-athlete. As much as I wanted to see a result sooner, he knew it was there. He knew that athlete had it.

He said, "Oh, those girls are running, Joe." I said, "Yeah, but I gotta get them going." He would say, "Joe, they're doing a great job." No matter what, he would always be a cheerleader.

It helped me understand that practice makes better, not perfect.

He recognized the importance in watching people make progress. He had patience in the process. He understood the pedagogy of coaching. Some people want it overnight, even student-athletes, but he understood it doesn’t work like that.

And the longer I coached, the more I began to see that, and it made me a better coach. So he had an impact on my life that way.

I remember when Megan set the record for Women’s High Jump (5'5 ¼) at Catholic University. She didn't start out setting the record, but it was the process of training with Matt Belfield, my assistant coach, who helped her to do that.

As someone said, you can't dream to be a champion. It takes work to be a champion.

I think Megan demonstrated that, and Father Gignac also knew the importance of doing that.

He helped me to put winning in perspective. That's the reason why, during my career, I came up with that slogan, “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”

And it helped me to enjoy coaching and the process of getting there.

With 25% of Cardinals participating in varsity athletics, sports is a big part of the culture. What does that reflect about the University?

For me, it has been very powerful because I basically created the formal NCAA Women's Cross Country and Track program. And I have seen it be so powerful, especially for women athletes.

I've watched them evolve from an intramural state, to a competitive state, to where they are today. I have watched student-athletes benefit from sports because it teaches them teamwork. It teaches them commitment. It teaches them discipline. It teaches them humility and those qualities that prepare them for being in the workforce. It develops comradeship. It helps to develop those relationships beyond the classroom. It does that not only for the women, but it does it also for the men.

When I was recruited to come to Catholic University, Coach McGee said, "Joe, I'm not recruiting you to come to Catholic University just as an athlete. I'm recruiting you to get an education."

And the career path that I chose is due to my education at Catholic University. Today, I'm a 35-year retired educator and coach, and I have no regrets because of what I've gained through those experiences.

It’s important to ask, “What are you chasing?” That's one of the values at Catholic University. It’s not chasing the external, but the internal.

If you're chasing the internal, it'll be with you for a lifetime. If you're chasing the external, it's only for the moment. And that's one of the reasons why this endowment is so important, because we want to reinforce the importance of the internal. Because we recognize the impact of education. Once you get it, nobody can take it away unless you allow them.

How would you describe the track and field team at Catholic University?

Depending on the coach, it doesn’t have to be different if you have winning in perspective.

I can honestly say that regardless of the size of the team, we managed to sustain that family culture. We managed to sustain that care factor. And I tell people all the time, the reason why I was able to do that is because, when we recruited students to come to Catholic University, they came to a college that was a good fit for them, culture-wise.

The way they were raised was reinforced. I was raised in a strong spiritual space, which really contributed to my success at Catholic University, with the religion and philosophy classes. And so I was able to share that and pass that on to my athletes. My team would always hear me tell stories philosophically.

And that was like family time, because everybody would be engaged in those conversations and want to participate and ask questions.

There were also times where we competed on the weekend. We would go to the Landmark Championship and girls would say, "Coach, we gotta go to Mass." And that tells you a lot. That was a blessing because they were committed to the Church. That impacted me.

That truly is the culture at Catholic University, because the same thing is still happening today.

What inspired you to take a leadership role in establishing this scholarship?

I was given an opportunity to go to Catholic University through financial support.

It's a special place, but not everyone can afford to attend. I want to support those students in any way that I can.

Even if it helps just a few kids, we want to do as much as we can. Especially for students involved in athletics. We want to let them know that not only do we care, but that the University cares, too.

It's still with me to this day. I started my organization, First Generation College Bound, because of attending Catholic University and graduating. I want students to feel the same way I did. We want them to know that the education they get here and the culture that they're in is going to be of a great value in their life.

What opportunities will this scholarship create for students?

It gives them the opportunity to understand the importance of engaging with people in a culture that's achieving success from an internal perspective, and pass that on to others.

For example, I have been able to pass on what I've learned from Catholic University coaches and professors, not just in my teaching profession for 35 years or my coaching at Catholic University for 41 years, but also through the nonprofit that I run, First Generation College Bound, today.

I think it helped to reinforce the importance, as my mother would say, "Help somebody along the way, because you will be passing on a spirit of encouragement  which will  energize you to keep moving forward."

Is there anything else you would like to share?

We're laying the foundation for something that will be ongoing. Not just today, but also tomorrow and the future.

This is something that gives people the opportunity to support and sustain the mission and culture of Catholic University beyond campus. The more students that this college retention endowment can graduate, the greater the return on investment.

Supporting student success is why I give and support the Catholic University servant leadership culture today.

Support the Coach Fisher-Father Gignac Scholarship

To honor these two mentors and their impact on countless students, we ask you to consider making a gift that, combined with other benefactors, would establish an endowed scholarship fund to support undergraduate student retention at Catholic University in perpetuity. Our goal is to raise $100,000 to establish The Coach Joseph Fisher and Father Francis T. Gignac Endowed Scholarship Fund over the next five years. Once fully endowed, the fund will make minimum annual awards of $2,500 to rising seniors or juniors to support their final year (or two years) of undergraduate study at Catholic University. 

To make a gift in support of this scholarship, contact James Higgins, assistant director of leadership annual giving for Athletics, at higginsjd [at] cua.edu (higginsjd[at]cua[dot]edu) or 202-319-4012.