Dr. Petillo's Blog

Sacred Heart University hosted its annual Discovery Awards and Scholarship Dinner this week. This year’s dinner on Wednesday broke all records—raising over $570,000—making the amount realized for student scholarships the most in the Discovery Dinner’s 22-year history. A special University project will benefit from the dinner again this year: the Discovery Scholars program that allows for a tuition-free education for students from Fairfield County with family incomes below $50,000.

Great thanks to a couple of gifted speakers, junior Tony Jean-Louis and senior Stephanie Valentino, who shared personal stories about how the financial aid they received helped to make their education and life experiences at SHU possible. We also got to hear from Amanda Pape, a member of the Class of 2007, who was a star on the basketball court at SHU. She also told the audience the moving details of the challenges her family faced and how a basketball scholarship to SHU made all the difference in her life. And, a special thank you to Dr. John Michniewicz and to 4 Heart Harmony for sharing their gift of music with our guests.

Obviously, a special event of this kind calls for many hands on deck to plan and support it. I want to offer my personal gratitude to Michael Iannazzi, our interim vice president for Institutional Advancement, and his team for making the event hum. I spoke to a number of people who had been to the Discovery Dinner before, and they reported that this was the best ever. In addition to raising important scholarship dollars, of course, the dinner also allowed us to salute the accomplishments of two great friends and community leaders: Cindi Bigelow of R.C. Bigelow, the specialty tea company based in Fairfield, and Bob Dilenschneider, the great public relations expert from New York’s Dilenschneider Group. Thanks to everyone involved for a spectacular evening.

We said good-bye this week to an old and dear friend, Hubert “Hub” Schlafly, who died at the age of 91. The inventor of the Teleprompter and the benefactor, with his late wife, Leona, of our Chapel of the Nativity, Hub cherished our University and its students. He supported scholarships, and our media lab is named for him. We will miss his gentle presence and pray for his eternal rest.

This has been a busy week with final papers and exams occupying our attention. But a great SHU tradition also took place: the Campus Life Leadership Awards in the Edgerton Center on Thursday night. Let me offer special recognition to just a few of those recognized for their positive impact on the campus community. Dr. Shirley Pavone received the Marian Calabrese Outstanding Faculty honors. The Outstanding Administrator Award went to Dave Bike and Outstanding Staff recognition to Cynthia Conte. The Outstanding Graduate Assistant was Chris Lee. Andrew Owens won the Doug Bohn “Unsung Hero” Award, and Kelly Leather was chosen for the John Croffey Outstanding Leadership Award. Congratulations to all of you and the many others recognized in this wonderful event.

Among some of the other activities of the week were the College of Arts & Sciences’ poster session on Friday, the special events connected with the University’s celebration of Earth Day, and the Holocaust Remembrance service in the Chapel. So many good things going on. We wish all of you great success in these closing days of the semester, especially with your final exams and planning for the summer.

 

Holy Week got off on a beautiful note – quite literally – with the presentation of Gabriel Faure’s Requiem and assorted other sacred pieces. Dr. John Michniewicz and Galen Tate led an impressive ensemble of musicians in Waterbury’s Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday evening, and repeated the performance on Palm Sunday in our own Chapel of the Holy Spirit. What a gift these talented young artists are for our community, and what excellent ambassadors for the University. Thanks to all of them for their hard work all year long.

This is truly a Holy Week – it began with Palm Sunday and Passover and concludes with the great mysteries of Christian belief: suffering, death and resurrection. I want to wish all of our Jewish brothers and sisters a joyous Passover, and to Christian believers, a blessed Easter celebration. May you all have happy holidays, relaxing and enjoyable times with your family, and a welcome break before the final rush of the semester!

Many of you may not know the name SAAC, but all of us benefit from the positive energy this group generates on campus – and far beyond. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee serves as a liaison between student-athletes and administration. In addition, the group hosts a number of events and participates in a wide variety of volunteer efforts. They most recently began work on a literacy program at the Dunbar School in Bridgeport, where SHU student-athletes visit each day of the school week to help students with their work. In addition, they’ve done a book drive and are working on putting together a Field Day for the students. The group has participated in the MS walk, put together a student-athlete auction that raised over $4,000 for the Lisa Moray scholarship, and over two years, raised more than $10,000 for the “Making Strides” breast cancer walk on behalf of SHU’s own survivor and women’s co-head softball coach, Elizabeth Luckie. Their efforts have made SHU the number one school in Connecticut for volume of holiday cards written to the troops overseas. And they are already planning ahead for fall ’11 when they are collaborating with Student Government to kick-off  "The Heart Attack," an initiative that will rally everyone’s Pioneer spirit. To all of our student-athletes, including Evan Mladenoff, SAAC’s president, and to advisors Lucy Cox and Heather Lewsey, many thanks – for making us proud both on and off the field!
 
I had the pleasure on Sunday to meet with members of our Parent Council for a productive and very promising lunch. It was instructive for me to hear their concerns and feel their optimism for our University – and their willingness to be of valuable service to everyone here. 
 
This week, we bid a fond farewell to Sister Marie Julianne Farrington, who has been a welcome presence among us for several years. She filled many roles in the Office of Mission and Catholic Identity, most notably with the presidential seminars on the Catholic intellectual tradition. We wish our friend many blessings in the years to come.
 

 

Wednesday’s strategic planning forum was another opportunity for the co-chairs of this important effort to hear from the rest of us. The questions and comments were wide-ranging and showed a continuing interest in the process and the outcome. As could be expected, much attention was paid to the optimum working relationships between faculty and students: getting all of us to participate widely in learning and living outside the classroom. Thanks for your continuing involvement.
 
In another of its ongoing series of conversations with leading business executives and entrepreneurs, the University’s John F. Welch College of Business hosted the president of Weight Watchers International (North America), Dave Burwick. Our stimulating discussion in University Commons drew those interested in managing and marketing a hugely successful corporation – and, I’m sure, a few folks who were just interesting in watching their weight. There was plenty of food for thought for either audience.
 
This Wednesday also saw the Department of Communications & Media Studies’ second annual Senior Celebration and Alumni Reception, in the Schine Auditorium. It brought successful graduates back to campus to mingle with the up-and-coming generation of media moguls. This is such a wonderful opportunity, and we look forward to seeing other departments adapt this event to their own purposes.
 
Speaking of reunions, Wednesday night we hosted a “zero-year reunion” that drew hundreds of participants: it was a huge hit. The intention was to introduce future alumni to their first class reunion and give them an idea of what it will be like once they get to 2016, their five-year class reunion. The event was also a great opportunity for Alumni Relations to welcome students to the alumni association. Students signed up to participate in the alumni website and Facebook, and many are looking forward to Homecoming in the fall. It was a terrific evening for these “Pioneers for Life.”

One of the great benefits of life at Sacred Heart University is the regular opportunities it affords to be an active participant in the currents of contemporary thought. I’ll give you just two examples from this week, both from Tuesday. In the afternoon, Dean Seamus Carey of the College of Arts and Sciences got to discuss “Power, Parenting and the Human Condition.” He spoke at the second quarterly Dean’s Forum, in the Schine Auditorium, which invites members of the faculty to share their areas of expertise. Dean Carey is not only a philosopher, but he has written extensively on parenting. He was joined by Dr. Kathy LaFontana, from the Department of Psychology, and Dr. Kieran Bonner, a visiting sociologist from St. Jerome’s University in Ontario. The conversation, presided over by Dr. Michael W. Higgins, was an examination of this significant issue from three quite distinct points of view. And that evening, we had the privilege of hosting one of the most knowledgeable insiders in   Washington, D.C., Mr. Ed Rollins. A long-time confidant of President Ronald Reagan, he shared his insights on the president in what would be his 100th birthday year. Among other accomplishments, Ed managed the milestone 1984 re-election campaign that captured 49 out of the 50 states. This kind of public event should be on everyone’s calendar: all those studying government and politics, of course, but also anyone interested in history or media studies. Those who weren’t able to be there missed a terrific evening.
 
Another spectacular cultural event took place at the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts last Sunday. The Sacred Heart University choral ensembles performed featuring the Concert Choir, 4 Heart Harmony, SHU LOVE (Ladies Only Vocal Ensemble), Liturgical Choir, Women’s Quartet, Men’s Quartet and soloists. Music included popular, Broadway, sacred and classical choral selections including great Michael Jackson songs, “We Are the World” and “Thriller.”  This special concert included a goodbye to the seniors, who then sang. What a spirit! Our campus life is greatly enriched by the talents and energy of these gifted performers. A community event of this nature – and quality – should certainly be supported by our community.
 
You may have seen the colorful “teasers” in your email inbox for this season’s big theatrical finale at the Edgerton Center. Little Shop of Horrors, which involves a carnivorous plant that wants to take over the world, is not your ordinary musical, but the cast and crew are doing an extraordinary job with it. It runs again tonight and Saturday night, both at 8 o’clock, and on Sunday at 3. I encourage you to see it. My family and I went and enjoyed it very much.
 
You won’t hear many college presidents speak so freely about mayhem and arrests on campus, but I promised you transparency, so I will come clean. This week, we saw many of our top administrators arrested in broad daylight and hauled   away – in chains – to languish behind bars. They joined a cadre of students who had suffered the same fate. And we’re very proud of them all. This week’s Jail ‘n’ Bail fundraising event netted thousands of dollars for the Connecticut Special Olympics, a cause close to many of us. Special thanks to everyone who participated and to our folks in Public Safety who made it all happen, particularly John Kichinko. Check it all out at http://www.youtube.com/user/SacredHeartUVideo.

A personal note to begin this week’s thoughts: I want to thank everyone for your gracious welcome following Monday’s announcement of my appointment as Sacred Heart’s sixth president. It has been an incredible week, and I am particularly grateful for all those who attended the two public forums in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. It gave me the chance to repeat my pledge to you to work for a transparent and collegial administration as we carry the University forward into our second half- century of service: always in service to our students. I am very hopeful for the future, and the reason for that was especially evident at Wednesday’s assembly with students. The crowd had one question and comment after another. And they
represented the complete range of issues confronting us today. Students are concerned about campus life, facilities, athletics, the school’s Catholic mission, the role of “non-traditional” students, academic programs including the Common Core, tuition rates, and community involvement. And, oh yes, did I mention parking! While we are reviewing plans to construct a 600-car parking garage on campus, I recognize the problem – and from personal experience. I got to share the fact that the very first day I arrived at Sacred Heart in 2009, I got a parking ticket – for $100 – from the city of Bridgeport! So, there are needs, there are challenges, but there are also bright, energetic, committed students who are willing to engage in the dialogue and participate in the future.

Three great friends of the University were welcome guests this week, and each had very encouraging things to say about those students. Isabelle Farrington, for whom our School of Education is named and who has been such a faithful supporter of our students, is a former teacher who said she doesn’t know of another school that does a better job of preparing young people for the challenges ahead. Cindi Bigelow, the president of R.C. Bigelow, the specialty tea company her grandmother founded, is a recipient of this year’s Discovery Award. A dedicated sponsor of numerous voluntary efforts, she said Sacred Heart is always front and center at such events; her one concern is that when SHU students are represented, she runs out of T-shirts because the numbers are always so great! And Kerry Robinson, the president of the Leadership Roundtable on Church Leadership, who is a model of Catholic lay involvement, spoke to a special forum on Wednesday. She praised the University’s commitment to the Catholic intellectual tradition and spoke of how glad she is that SHU is one of six pilot programs nationally for the Roundtable’s ESTEEM program that grooms Catholic college students for future leadership in the Church.

What a week it’s been: a great start to a new day!