This week, we introduced Jessica Mannetti as the new head women’s basketball coach. Jessica is a native of Fairfield County and is excited to be back on her home turf after most recently serving as an assistant coach at Hofstra. Please join me in welcoming Jessica to the Sacred Heart community and in wishing her much success with the lady Pioneers.
Congratulations to Don Cook on his well-deserved induction this week into the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame. He was honored for his 50 years of service as a coach and athletic director at the college level. Sacred Heart was certainly lucky to have the benefit of his expertise and guidance.
Michael Larobina was elected to the board of the Stamford Downtown Special Services District at their annual meeting Wednesday night. This supports our goal to expand our presence in Stamford, and we appreciate his willingness to serve.
Sacred Heart’s summer study abroad students were at the Vatican this week to visit the museum there and St. Peter’s Basilica. In addition to talking about the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s School of Athens, faculty adviser Nathan Lewis shared information on John XXIII for whom Roncalli Hall is named. The students also got pretty close to Pope Francis greeting the people in the piazza as you can see in the picture below taken by Nathan.
Sacred Heart University is among the best catholic colleges, according to BestColleges.com. These rankings are based on a wide range of criteria that blends academics and faith. Surveys were administered to students at a variety of programs to determine their satisfaction with classes, professors and the inclusion of faith practices in their studies. Additionally, experts in the field were interviewed about the reputation of the various programs.
Last night I was back in Stamford for the announcement of a joint program between Sacred Heart and Starwood Hotels to expand on the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program. We have created a curriculum so the hotel’s interns can learn about digital marketing for three weeks before working in the field for the other three weeks of the summer program. This program continues our strong relationship with the City of Stamford and begins what we hope will be a long partnership with the Starwood Hotels Group.
We took a tour of the renovations to the Academic Building and the Edgerton earlier today. Things are really moving along. It will be exciting to unveil the updated look in the fall and to have beautiful new facilities available for our 50th anniversary celebration.
Yesterday we published a bonus, online-only issue of the Sacred Heart University magazine. As I read through the issue, it brought into focus for me just how much we are accomplishing here and the talented and devoted faculty and staff who are helping us to do it. I encourage you to take some time to look through the magazine. You can access it here.
Have a relaxing weekend, and enjoy the Fourth of July holiday!