On Friday, February 5th, our next president Dan Santucci ‘02 visited the Saint Patrick campus and met several Shamrocks, faculty and staff. The announcement that Mr. Santucci would be the successor of Dr. Joseph Schmidt, AFSC came on February 3.

Mr. Santucci, the third President in Saint Patrick history, is from the Chicagoland area. He grew up in Harwood Heights and attended St. Francis Borgia grade school. After graduating from Saint Patrick in 2002, Mr. Santucci attended the University of Notre Dame on a football scholarship. He was very productive on the football field during his time at Notre Dame while earning his Bachelor’s Degree in Business, and was drafted into the NFL where he played for the Bengals and Panthers.

After his playing days were over, Mr. Santucci returned to Notre Dame and was a successful fundraiser for the university. Now Mr. Santucci will once again return to his alma mater. This time, he will take over as the president of Saint Patrick, his beloved high school, on July 1, 2021. This new era has the entire student body extremely excited about the future.

During his visit earlier this month the entire building had a buzz. Students were watching out the Belmont windows awaiting Mr. Santucci’s arrival. Once he was on campus, everyone knew as word of his arrival spread very fast and everyone wanted to see him.

During I Period, several members of the Green and Gold, including myself, and students from the Yearbook staff were able to interview Mr. Santucci. Juniors Alex Goworowski and Sean Conway were also in attendance.

Just by speaking with Mr. Santucci you can see how much he cares about Saint Patrick and is extremely excited to come home and start working with the Shamrocks and staff.
“He seems like a great guy. He is also a Shamrock so he can relate to the students and understand us,” Conway said. “He has a plan for when he gets here and looks excited to come here and get to work.”