Dr. Petillo's Blog

In case you hadn’t noticed, the “news” this week is really the weather. Yet another major snow storm hit us.  I can’t say enough about our Campus Ops people for all their work to keep the streets and parking lots cleared. It is a monumental task, and great thanks to all of them for braving the elements in their efforts to keep all of us safe. 

Kudos go out once again to the Department of Graphic Design and Visual Arts. Illustrations by three students and one grad were accepted by the prestigious Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles.  The students are Rachel Bellando and Katherine Connolly of Rockville Center, NY, and Maria Damianou of Monroe, CT. Britt Gardner of Guilford, CT, who graduated in May of 2010, also had a piece accepted. Sacred Heart’s program continues to garner recognition and awards. Congrats to Professor Jack de Graffenried and all your colleagues.

Best-selling author Jodi Picoult drew a capacity audience to the Edgerton Center Monday to discuss bullying and writing. She praised Connecticut as a state that has adopted an anti-bullying program based on one of her novels.  She’s had 17 best-selling novels, including My Sister’s Keeper, which was made into a major motion picture. The Student Affairs lecture series has been able to bring terrific names to campus, thanks to the hard work of Denise Tiberio and her team.

Also, this week, we saw the start of  a very promising series of discussions by members of the faculty. Dean Seamus Carey of the College of Arts and Science hosted a panel featuring Dr. Michael Higgins, our vice president for Mission and Catholic Identity, who spoke of his newest book, Suffer the Children unto Me, about the sex-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Responding, in a lively conversation, were Dr. Jim Castonguay and Dr. Brian Stiltner. The result was engaging and thought-provoking discussion with faculty. The Dean’s Forum will be held twice a semester and is designed to offer faculty members the chance to discuss their research and writing with their colleagues.  And this was a very good start to it.

Remember to “Pack the Pitt” tomorrow for basketball and a whole lot more – beginning at 1 o’clock.  And, may it not snow.

Welcome back to all our students and faculty. I wish each of you a productive and extremely satisfying new semester and new year.

While most of us were out shoveling snow and scraping ice off our cars, some of our Pioneers headed south for a part of their Christmas break, and we couldn’t be more proud of them. Five years after Hurricane Katrina turned so many lives upside down, 21 SHU students and four advisors were once again helping build homes for the displaced of Louisiana and Mississippi and providing a Christmas gift of hope.
 
That’s not to say the local community was overlooked. Some 20 students participated in CURTIS Week in Bridgeport. From partnering with Habitat for Humanity to preparing meals in soup kitchens and other community projects, students were given the rare opportunity to see and feel social needs that others face in urban areas. CURTIS Week also serves as a collaborative focus on how to create change and learn about prejudices and ways to combat them. Let one participant represent the hundreds of our students who give so heroically to the community: Samantha Fasanello, a sophomore from New Jersey, put it this way: “I couldn’t think of a better way to begin the Spring Semester than by taking part in service and directly helping people. I really think it’s important to give back to the community.” And so does Sacred Heart University. Thanks to you all.

 
From the look of things, this is going to be a great semester. Our academic programs continue to flex their muscles, and we are launching a couple of brand new programs in the fall that will meet real needs for the constantly changing workforce. The Master of Arts in Communications will combine media literacy with technical skills fitted for the new age of communications. Congratulations to Professor Jim Castonguay and Professor Andrew Miller for all of your work putting this program together. And an exciting new Master of Science in Environmental Systems Analysis and Management (ESAM) degree will respond to the explosive need for professionals in the environmental field. Kudos to Professor Kirk Bartholomew and his team for bringing the process to this point.

Two big mark-your-calendar events: Each year we host “Pack the Pitt,” which is a spirit event for the Sacred Heart community to gather to support our basketball teams. We are hoping for a good representation of students, faculty and staff at the event. Usually there is some sort of give-away, and this year it will be seat cushions with Big Red on them. The date is Saturday, January 29^th, and the games are at 1 and 3:30. A second big event will be the “Winter Classic,” which will be highlighting the men’s ice hockey team. The Winter Classic is on February 13th at 1 P.M. at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.  We will be playing against UCONN.  This is an outdoor hockey game! As is so often the case, we have the Student Government Association to thank for organizing and promoting such terrific events. Great work!

When you’ve been in school as long as I have, you realize how fast it all goes – especially the spring semester. So, settle in and enjoy the year to come.