Dr. Petillo's Blog

There was a lot going on here on campus last weekend starting with a wedding in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit Saturday afternoon. It’s a beautiful venue for a wedding, and I am thrilled that alumni take advantage of it.

Our annual Relay for Life event took place Saturday evening. This is always a moving event, beginning with the Survivors’ Lap. We run the gamut of emotions as we remember loved ones who succumbed to cancer while celebrating the survivors – many of whom turn out for the event. Perhaps most impressive was that it was a student-run event. It was well-organized, well-attended and raised a stunning $41,000 for the American Cancer Society. Congratulations to the Student Events Team and the Relay for Life committee for an incredible job well done.

More student talent was on display Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon with performances by the University’s six choruses on Saturday and the University Band on Sunday. I attended both concerts and came away feeling respect and awe for the skill and craft that I witnessed. I am well aware that it took a lot of hard work to get to that point, and I offer heartfelt thanks and congratulations to both the students and their teachers for such spectacular performances.

The Fourth Annual Communion Breakfast at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit in University Commons was a great success with approximately 160 in attendance. Catholic University of America’s Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love’s presentation on how educators can build a better world was well received as were remarks from Archbishop-elect William E. Lori. During the event, co-sponsor Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (CAPP) of Fairfield County presented its inaugural Education Leadership Award to Jo-Anne Jakab, principal of Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport for the past 17 years. She is a well-deserving recipient, who received Sacred Heart’s Bishop Curtis Award in 2006.

I want to take a moment to congratulate Bishop Lori on his recent appointment as the 16th archbishop of Baltimore. Although he will be sorely missed here in Bridgeport, the promotion is well deserved. I want to thank him for his support of Sacred Heart University and his personal friendship to me.

Yesterday, we had the great pleasure of hosting Jeffrey A. Asher, executive director of the Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority (CHEFA), and David Wasch, government programs manager of CHEFA. They were here to present the check for the $75,000 grant that CHEFA awarded to us for the purchase of a state-of-the-art SimMan 3G patient simulation system. They had a chance to view the new SimMan 3G, which will be used for clinical nurse training. The patient simulators allow nursing students to practice and improve their clinical reasoning skills in the lab as the SimMan reacts to the care provided and can display vital signs that include breathing, sweating, temperature, dilation of the eyes, and more.  

The Relay for Life Event last weekend also kicked off Greek Week. With greater participation in the Greek community here at Sacred Heart, the event expands this year from a weekend of activities to a full week. The Greek students are participating in a variety of events and competitions this week from a Family Feud tournament and skit contest to the Greek Olympics that will close Greek Week on Sunday. The week of activities is designed to build unity among the nearly 450 students who participate in SHU’s Greek life. It will also benefit the community as canned goods will be collected for the St. Charles Food Pantry during a barbecue on Saturday.

Congratulations to the Sacred Heart Winter Guard on their seventh-place finish at the Winter Guard International Regional competition in New Jersey this past Sunday. We wish them the best of luck as they compete at UConn this coming weekend to retain their championship title.

Kudos also to the women’s bowling team on its second NEC crown in three seasons. The title came with a dramatic 4-3 win over top-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson in the finals Sunday afternoon. The prevailing theme of this week’s blog seems to be that there is incredible student talent here at SHU no matter where we look. We can all be very proud to be part of this community.

We begin Holy Week on Sunday with the celebration of Palm Sunday and Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. As we enjoy Easter break, I hope we also take time to remember His sacrifice for us and the joy of His resurrection.  Have a relaxing, safe and blessed Easter break.

I want to start out this week by once again congratulating the women’s basketball team on earning a spot in the NCAA tournament. They played well in a hard-fought battle against a tough Georgia Tech team. We are very proud of them and congratulate them on an outstanding season.

I was reminded earlier this week by an email from a proud parent that our fencing teams have also been having an exceptional season. Both the men and women’s fencing teams have been winners with the men going 10-0 and the women 10-2. Those records led to a tie with Brown for the Combined Conference Championship. This week, Megan Floyd from the women’s team and Stuart Holmes and Marty Williams from the men’s team are at the NCAA Fencing Championships at Ohio State. We wish them the best of luck. With only two members graduating from the fencing program, we can look forward to more success next year.

As for the email that I mentioned earlier, I always welcome comments, questions and feedback from readers of this blog.

Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love will be on campus on Sunday as part of the Fourth Annual Communion Breakfast for Fairfield County Educators. Her topic will be From Classroom to Community: How Educators Can Build a Better World. Dr. Cusimano Love is an associate professor of International Relations in the Politics Department of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. The breakfast, which is sponsored by the Isabelle Farrington College of Education and Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (CAPP) of Fairfield County, is designed for educators from pre-K through grade 12 and in higher education.

I encourage you to consider supporting student scholarships by attending our Discovery Gala on April 14. It will be our inaugural event inside the new commons. The Gala traditionally honors distinguished members of the community, while raising critically needed scholarship funds for the University’s most deserving students. This year’s honoree is Teresa Ressel, former CFO of the United States Treasury. Following the Gala, attendees will move on to the Edgerton Center to enjoy a performance by the Midtown Men.

Sacred Heart University will mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the upcoming golden anniversary of the University’s founding with a two-day conference April 23-24. The event is co-sponsored by the Paulist Press and will feature several notable scholars and theologians from throughout the United States, including Sacred Heart’s own Rev. Anthony Ciorra, assistant vice president of Mission and Catholic Identity, and Dr. Michael W. Higgins, vice president for Mission and Catholic Identity. Entitled A Universal Call to Holiness, the conference will focus on a way forward for the Church and will pick up where the Second Vatican Council left off with the seven closing speeches given by the cardinals on the last day of the Council in 1965. Their topics – youth, church and politics, art and beauty, suffering, labor and immigration, religion and science and the role of women – remain relevant today. I expect this to be an exciting and intense two days filled with fascinating information and a valuable exchange of ideas. Members of the Sacred Heart community are invited to participate in part or all of the conference free of charge. It’s a tremendous opportunity, and you will want to take advantage of it.

If you get a chance, I recommend that you stop by the Gallery of Contemporary Art for the Annual Student Art Exhibit. There is an amazing amount of talent on display.

There will also be amazing talent on display this weekend with the SHU Choirs performing Saturday evening and the University Concert Band’s annual Spring Concert set for Sunday afternoon. In addition, entertainer Mickey Rooney will be here Saturday evening to discuss a career that has spanned nearly 90 years.

We started this week with a victory by the women’s basketball team over Monmouth before an enthusiastic crowd at the Pitt Center. The women not only won the NEC tournament, but guaranteed themselves a spot in the NCAA tournament. That spot turned out to be the number 13 seed in the Des Moines Regional. They kick off their tournament play on Sunday against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets – a team they have never played. I, for one, will be glued to the television at 2:30 Sunday afternoon and will be wishing the women all the best. Go Pioneers!

Congratulations are also in order for our equestrian team! This past weekend, the team brought home its first-ever regional title. The team stayed on campus during spring break to train and prepare for their last competition. Their efforts paid off when they won the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Zone 2 Region 5 championship title at UConn.

We celebrated our 48^th annual Founder’s Day on Wednesday, beginning with a standing- room-only mass at the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, followed by a celebration before a full house at the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts that included some wonderful performances from the 4 Heart Harmony chamber choir. More than 50 members of the faculty and staff were honored for years of service that ranged from 15 to 40 years. As I said in my remarks there, these are the people who think of Sacred Heart as more than just a place of employment. They exemplify my vision of servant leadership, stewardship and presence. Once again, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your dedication and commitment.  To look at more photos from the big event, click here.

I want to thank everyone who attended the Faculty Town Hall Meeting this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the lively discussion and debate on the future of this university, and I thank you all for your passion for and commitment to Sacred Heart.

We had another week of exciting programs and lectures here on campus. Among those were a Religion and Bioethics Panel moderated by our own Dr. Matthew Kenney. We heard from three leading experts: Dr. Kevin T. FitzGerald, Dr. David Lauler Chair of Catholic Health Care Ethics, Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University and associate professor, Department of Oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center; Dr. Henk A.M.J. ten Have, professor and director, Center for Healthcare Ethics at Duquesne University;  and Sr. Nuala Kenny, professor emeritus of Bioethics at Dalhousie University and Ethics and Health Policy adviser to the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada. By all accounts it was a passionate discussion. Also visiting was photojournalist Ed Kashi who spoke as part of Vision Project. He has done assignments throughout the world for National Geographic and other publications and has won numerous awards.

We concluded the Academic Research Showcase this week with a talk from Dr. Peter Maresco. His topic was The Expanding Christian Marketplace: If You Can Name It, or Make It, the Christian Marketplace Probably Sells It. He pointed out that 140 million potential customers make the Christian market an appealing one. I want to take this opportunity to again thank all four Showcase speakers as well as the committee that sorted through the proposals and put together such a great program.

Tuesday night, our Faculty Recital Series featured Keith Johnston on trombone and Andy Kolar on percussion. I love events where our faculty and/or students have a chance to showcase their talents.

Last night I hosted the second of my faculty dinners. It has been great to get to know some of you better in a more relaxed setting. I hope you have been enjoying them as much as I have. I plan to host one more before graduation and then continue them into next year.

In addition to whatever weekend plans you’ve made around March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day, consider heading over to the Edgerton Center Saturday evening for Ali’s Angels. This third annual benefit performance celebrates junior nursing student Alison Cubbellotti, and her donor, a graduate of Sacred Heart.  Proceeds will be used to fund research to find a cure for Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis and Crohn’s Disease.

My family and I are traveling to Florida this weekend for both business and pleasure. By the sound of things, the weather may be even more beautiful here than there. Whatever you decide to do, enjoy the weekend. And, go Pioneers!

Even with the students away on spring break – many of whom are on mission or Habitat trips – we have had some excitement here on campus this week. Congratulations to the women’s basketball team on their close victories against Fairleigh Dickinson last Saturday and Robert Morris on Tuesday in the 2012 NEC Championship Tournament. Home court advantage continues for our top seed team when they host Monmouth on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the NEC Championship Game – a game that will be televised on ESPNU. Let’s make full use of that advantage by turning out at the Pitt Center on Sunday to cheer the women on as they play not only for the conference championship but for a bid to the NCAA tournament. Go Pioneers!

Congratulations to the women’s basketball team! For the first time, Sacred Heart has swept the Northeast Conference Player, Rookie and Coach of the Year awards. Callan Taylor and Gabrielle Washington are Player and Rookie of the Year respectively, while Head Coach Ed Swanson was named Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. We wish the entire team best of luck when they host Fairleigh Dickinson tomorrow in the first round of the 2012 NEC Championship Tournament. The women Pioneers are the top seed after winning the regular-season title. Let’s all turn out to give them our support on Saturday.

Congratulations also to the Domenick Pinto, department chair of Computer Science & Information Technology, and the faculty and administration of our graduate certificate in Computer Gaming Design and Development. Sacred Heart University received honorable mention from The Princeton Review in its 2012 ranking of the top 50 graduate programs for video game design in the U.S.

This week was another reminder of how lucky we are to continually have access to great speakers, programs and concerts here at Sacred Heart University. My special thanks and congratulations to all of the students who performed in a number of concerts last weekend. The Chapel of the Holy Spirit was the perfect venue for last Saturday evening’s Gospelfest which included uplifting performances by musicians from SHU and the surrounding area. 

On Sunday, performers from the University’s choral, band and theater programs shared their talents from locations throughout the Edgerton Center and in a variety of musical styles at the Elements concert. Kudos to John Michniewicz, director of Choral Programs, and Keith Johnston, director of Pioneer Bands, for bringing out the best in our students’ musical abilities.

We had an embarrassment of riches in the form of information and advice on Tuesday and Wednesday. Julie Jason, author of Managing Retirement Wealth: An Expert Guide to Personal Portfolio Management in Good Times and Bad, gave a talk in the Ryan-Matura library. Our own Dr. Jacqueline Kelleher presented the third of four lectures that make up the Academic Research Showcase – part of the Presidential Inaugural Lecture Series. Her topic was Film and Perspective-Taking: Educating Educators on Youth with Autism. The presentation included a film called Dungeons and Distractions – the brainstorm of her autistic twin sons – that allows those who view it to experience the challenges of autism. Her hope is to expand the film to include the activities of an entire school day and also to make additional films that portray the experiences of other disabilities that fall under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

We also heard from SHU alumnus Brian Fitzsimmons, award-winning author of Celtic Pride and senior writer/editor at MSG Variety, and from Paul Hogan, chairman and co-founder of Home Instead Senior Care on A Look at the Millennial Generation’s Views on Life. A video of his lecture is available online. Each event included an opportunity for questions and intellectual discourse. Our faculty and staff do a great job of bringing a variety of exciting programs to campus, and I encourage you to take full advantage.

The third annual Dancing with Heart event also took place Tuesday evening. More than 400 students, faculty and staff came out to see nine couples – each made up of a student and a faculty or staff member – perform a dance. In addition, Admissions Counselor Rob Gilmore had the honor of doing a solo dance after receiving the greatest number of votes from the Sacred Heart community. Congratulations to Professor Susan Gannon and John Dibari ’14 on impressing the judges with their dancing prowess and taking home the big glass ball (so to speak). And thanks to the sophomore class for putting on a very entertaining event. If you missed it, videos of the dancing are available on YouTube.

Sacred Heart’s Dr. Jennifer Mattei, Dr. Mark Beekey and master's candidate Mike Stocker participated in a “prescribed burn” at Stratford Point on Long Island Sound this week. The point of the burn is to eliminate leaf litter and kill invasive plant species down to their roots so that native species have a chance to thrive in the resulting nitrogen-rich soil. The area needed some bald patches where loose sand would allow rare insects and birds like piping plover and terns to breed. Sacred Heart University's environmental science program, in conjunction with the Connecticut Audubon Society, had already rebuilt the dunes and overseen the addition of 36,000 beach grass and switch grass plants at the site. The post-burn expectation is that native vegetation will now grow.

Attendees at last Saturday’s women’s basketball game were among the first to hear that the Lisa M. Moray Scholarship is now fully endowed. Lisa, a four-year member of the women’s basketball program, passed away in June 2008 as result of an automobile accident. She was a key member of the 2006 NEC Championship team that delivered a school-record 26 wins and a first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. She finished her career with 160 three-point field goals, a mark that ranks her fifth all-time at Sacred Heart, and in 2007, she set a new school record for three-pointers in a season with 69. The scholarship will assist deserving female student-athletes who embody Lisa’s indelible spirit and her deep commitment to sportsmanship, teamwork and the Sacred Heart community. Recipients will also need to show academic promise and demonstrate financial need.

I hope that mid-term exams went well and that you all have a fun and relaxing Spring Break.