This week we celebrated the 50th
anniversary of the commencement of the Second Vatican Council by bestowing
honorary degrees on three of the luminaries associated with that auspicious and
fecund period in Catholic history. Those honored with the Doctor of Theology at
a special academic convocation on Thursday were Gregory Baum, Nicholas Lash and
Ladislas Orsy.
With President Petillo are, from left, Nicholas Lash, Gregory Baum and Father Ladislas Orsy.
The three also participated in
a panel discussion Wednesday evening where they answered questions about the
victories and the disappointments that have resulted from the work done at
Vatican II. In an informative and entertaining evening, the three dignitaries
proved to be not only brilliant theologians, but also comedians as they
interspersed their responses with amusing anecdotes. The moderator was our own
Michael Higgins, vice president for Mission and Catholic Identity, who chaired
the committee that put this anniversary celebration together. In fact, he got
so excited by how well the panel discussion was going that he somehow managed
to spill coffee all over himself. I hope he doesn’t expect the University to
cover his dry cleaning bill.
Pictured from left onstage are moderator Dr. Michael W. Higgins, vice president for Mission and Catholic Identity, Orsy, Baum and Lash.
Sacred Heart University was
founded during Vatican II by Bishop Walter W. Curtis, then Bishop of the
Diocese of Bridgeport. Bishop Curtis attended Vatican II and was inspired by a
new focus on the laity and the role they play in the mission of the church. In
conjunction with the work being done by Vatican II, he founded Sacred Heart
University in 1963 specifically to be staffed by the laity. As a result, Sacred
Heart and Vatican II are forever linked, and it is most fitting that we
celebrate that connection.
The celebration will conclude
tomorrow evening with a special concert
performance of
Mass of the New Light
by composer Peter-Anthony Togni. The piece was specifically written for this
occasion.
My thanks to Dr. Higgins and his committee for an
outstanding job on the planning and execution of this event. The festivities
are just beginning as next year we will celebrate the golden anniversary of
this University’s founding.
Also this week, Sacred Heart University is
hosting the Academy of International Business - US Northeast
Chapter’s 2012 Annual Conference. The theme of the conference is “Business
without Borders,” and the agenda offers a variety of presentations and
workshops related to this timely topic. It is a great honor to host such an
esteemed event, and my thanks to Professors Khawaja Mamun and Jing'an Tang who
worked hard to make sure that everything ran smoothly for our guests.
From left are Welch College of Business Dean John Chalykoff, Customer Solutions Group Executive Vice President David Dobson, Pitney Bowes President and CEO Murray Martin, Yale School of Management Senior Faculty Fellow Arun Sinha and Spreadsave.com President Mike Moen.
More than 300 faculty and staff
members and their families were on hand last Saturday for SHU Day 2012 – a
tailgate party to celebrate the Pioneers’ second home football game of the
season. The caricature artist, bouncy house and cotton candy were popular with
the kids, while the adults enjoyed delicious food and a variety of beers. The
rain held off for most of the game and, while the Pioneers did not prevail, it
was exciting and close. They head to Dartmouth this weekend for their last
non-conference game of the season. Go Pioneers!
SHU Day
A huge round of applause is in
order for the women’s figure skating team who won their third consecutive ISI
Adult National Championship in Las Vegas over the weekend. Their hard work and
dedication definitely paid off. Congratulations, ladies!
Women's Figure Skating Team
More kudos go out to the
marching band who once again represented Sacred Heart in the annual Columbus
Day Parade in New York City. Congratulations!
The Marching Band performs at the Columbus Day Parade in NYC.
On Tuesday, the faculty
gathered for the Faculty Institute, which offered an exciting and informative
agenda. After reading George Keller’s
Transforming
a College about Elon College in North Carolina, I was particularly
interested in hearing from Dr. Gerry Francis, who is the executive vice
president there. He did not disappoint as he shared the strategies used to
transform Elon from an institution struggling to remain solvent to a growing
campus with students from 40 countries and 46 states and a 40 percent increase
in applications since 1995.
The morning presentation was by
Jill Kinsey of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. She
shared data on how our students perceive the quality of the environment here at
Sacred Heart. She was inundated with questions from the audience who wanted to
hear more about strategies for improving our engagement with our students. Many
faculty members in attendance commented that the Institute was the equivalent
of a conference they would pay to attend. Our thanks go out to the provost,
Laura Niesen de Abruna, for putting together such a dynamic agenda.
While the faculty was
discussing active and engaged learning here at SHU, the students were studying
for midterms. Can we really be halfway through the semester already?
A great way to kick off the
weekend will be the SHU Hoops Madness this evening at the Pitt Center. The
event commemorates the official start of the basketball season when practices
begin for the teams. The men’s and
women’s teams will be introduced, and there will be raffle prizes, a pep rally
and a scrimmage between the men’s varsity and a team made up of faculty and
staff. Now that should be interesting!
Have a wonderful weekend.
