Dr. Petillo's Blog

President Petillo’s Blog: September 25, 2015

This is an exciting time for us and for Catholics throughout the United States. The pope is charismatic and articulate, and his messages are on point. He is not afraid to point out that issues like climate change, income inequality and immigration are moral rather than political issues, and it is up to all of us to act. It’s been great to see so many members of our community gathering in the Presentation Room to hear his remarks and celebrate his visit to this country.  

The Saudi Student Club organized a Saudi National Day celebration on Tuesday, which was attended by many of our international students—most of whom enjoyed the opportunity to don traditional Saudi wear and learn about a new culture. Saudi National Day is celebrated in Saudi Arabia on September 23 to commemorate the day when King Abdulaziz announced the country as a kingdom in 1932.

On Wednesday, accounting students had a chance to meet with area employers to gather information about internships and future employment. The firms that turned out in the Martire Forum included H&R Block, Ernst & Young, Citrin Cooperman, Deloitte and many more. 

I want to encourage everyone to take a look at the latest issue of the Sacred Heart University magazine, which is available online. It contains some great articles about the exciting research and projects that students and faculty have been working on.

Carlyanne Rice-Ehalt and Emma Sanchez recently attended an Upward Bound conference in Atlanta where John Quiñones, ABC correspondent and host of What Would You Do?, was the emcee for the awards dinner. He shared his own experience with Upward Bound, crediting the organization with helping him realize his dream of attending and graduating from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and later earning a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism. Quiñones is just one of many success stories to come out of this outstanding program.

We were excited to learn that the team that services our Chartwells account has been chosen as the 2015 Regional Account of the Year. Sacred Heart University dining was selected as the top account from 60 colleges and universities in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. The team was chosen based on achieving overall business goals set forth in a national company-wide recognition program named “Be-A-Star.” We were more than happy to give positive feedback when asked to fill out a Chartwells survey. We think they do an incredible job. The overall National Account of the Year will be announced in mid-October.

The first of three fall open houses takes place tomorrow. As always, this is an opportunity to show prospective students and their families what a special community we have here at Sacred Heart. I would like to encourage all of you to participate in this important and exciting event. In particular, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the check-in at the Pitt Center first thing in the morning and the Student Life & Athletics Fair over lunch. I hope that everyone who is on campus will introduce themselves to the visiting families, welcome them to campus and provide any assistance they may need. 

There are not a lot of home games this weekend, but the women’s volleyball team would appreciate your support as they take on Fairleigh Dickinson at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Best of luck to them and to all the teams who are traveling, including the football team, which will try to get back on track at Dartmouth after a heartbreaking loss to Marist last weekend. Go Pioneers!

If you are looking for some entertainment over the weekend, check out Time Stands Still in the Little Theatre. Performances of this critically acclaimed play will take place tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. Tickets are available at the Edgerton Center box office.

Enjoy the supermoon lunar eclipse on Sunday, and have a great weekend!

President Petillo's Blog: Friday, September 18th

I bring you another installment of my video blog as we near the end of our first month back at school. Feel free to share this on social media and follow me as well. @SHUprez on Twitter and Instagram.

Go Pioneers, and have a great weekend!

 

President Petillo's Blog: Friday, September 11

I am looking forward to tonight’s Gala and the chance to see so many students. This is one of my favorite events at the start of a new academic year. So, those of you who planned to attend, put on those bow ties and come on out. If I haven’t had a chance to meet you yet, be sure to introduce yourself.

After last Sunday, Massapalooza has become another of my favorite start-of-year events. It was great to see so many in the SHU community come out and participate in Mass on the Grass, and I am glad this is set to become an annual event.

Congratulations to the SHU football team on their convincing victory over St. Anselm to open the season last Saturday and best of luck as they travel this weekend to take on Valparaiso. In fact, many of our athletic teams are away this weekend, and we wish all of them success. The women’s rugby and field hockey teams are at home, though. Go Pioneers!

The marching band also did a great job during Saturday’s game. They have become a triple threat with their ability to play, dance and sing!

Speaking of the band, an exhibition of work by our Art & Design students opened in the gallery outside the Edgerton on Wednesday. It includes Danielle Barberi’s senior project, which celebrates her time as a member of the SHU band. Congratulations to Danielle and all our talented students.

And still on the topic of talented students, our theatre arts students have been working on staging the play Heads by E.M. Lewis for performances at the Beckett Theatre in New York City. The students fully produced the show from start to finish. Their version of the show opens today on 42nd Street and will run through September 20. Congratulations to everyone involved.

On Wednesday, author Cheryl Strayed was here to speak—especially to the freshmen—about her experiences hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. The incoming class was assigned her book detailing her adventures as their summer reading. By all accounts she was very candid about her life and experiences, especially when answering the students’ questions.

Thursday was the annual Volunteer Fair where the Office of Volunteer Programs & Service Learning presents the various opportunities available to students who want to become involved in giving back. Whether you want to stick close to campus or are considering a service-learning trip, there is something of interest for everyone.

This week we learned that U.S.News and World Report has included us in their listing of Best Colleges in the North. They also commended us for our online programs and programs for veterans. In addition, SafeWise listed Fairfield as one of the top 50 safest college towns. We are always happy to get outside validation of the things we are doing.

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, be sure to stop by Fresh Check Day on Saturday. There will be food, games, prizes, free T-shirts and more. The event kicked off last night with a talk by Leah Nelson, who attempted suicide when she was a college sophomore. Attendees also had a chance to play with some pretty cute therapy dogs.

I also want to encourage everyone to attend the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit Sunday evening at 7 p.m.

Have a great weekend!

President Petillo's Blog: Friday, September 4th

Classes began on Monday, and it has been great to see the excitement as students meet their teachers and begin their studies. It’s been especially gratifying to see the business and media studies students enjoy the beautiful new facilities at the Martire Center. We have put together a short video to commemorate the beginning of what I hope will be an enriching and successful semester for all of us.

Wednesday was our New Student Convocation where the class of 2019 and our new transfer students were officially welcomed and inducted into the Sacred Heart community. Welcome! It is always so moving to see the new students coming up the hill behind the marching band. It was also great to see so many of the upperclassmen there. And thanks to all of you who have started following me at @SHUprez.

Last week a group of six graduate students had the opportunity to participate in a photography workshop at the U.S. (tennis) Open in Flushing. They photographed live qualifying matches and practice sessions, taking shots of such top pro players as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Jelena Janković. The workshop was led by Chris Nicholson, a photographer and writer who was a media studies student at SHU. Another SHU alum, Mark Preston, arranged for the students to tour the media room, which serves 1,000 credentialed reporters and photographers from over 50 countries; the photographers' facilities; the photo pit on Arthur Ashe Stadium; and the interview room used for post-match press conferences. I love to see our alums giving back to current students through programs such as this.

Nine students participated this week in raising the frame on the first Habitat for Humanity house in the Bridgeport area to be dedicated to Pope Francis (a trend that has been happening around the country). They joined students from Fairfield University and the University of Bridgeport for the project.

The library staff came up with a unique way to get students (and faculty and staff) to stop by and see what the library has to offer—they ran a mini-golf competition! Participants had a chance to play 18 holes and try to win a prize while learning about the many resources available from the library.

Congratulations to student Jaclyn Smith who, along with her team, took the silver medal in para rowing at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in France. This is the second consecutive year that the U.S. team took second, and they are already gunning for the gold next year in Rio. Congrats again to Jaclyn and the entire team!

Sheri Cosme, who is in her final year of the doctorate of nursing practice in healthcare leadership program here at SHU, recently gave a fantastic interview to ValuePenguin about her experiences in the program. Thank you, Sheri, for representing us so well.

There are plenty of opportunities to cheer on your Pioneers this weekend. In addition to the opening home football game against St. Anselm, with a kickoff at 6 p.m. on Saturday, you can catch the women’s soccer team playing Cansius at 3 p.m. today, the women’s volleyball team taking on Hartford at 5 p.m. and the men’s soccer team challenging Yale at 7 tonight. Tomorrow, the women’s volleyball team takes on Brown at 1 p.m. I also encourage faculty and staff to come out for the annual pre-football SHU Day party on Saturday, beginning at 4:30. There will be great food, great company and great music provided by SHU alum and current staff member, Bill Haug. Go Pioneers!

There will be plenty to do on campus this weekend in addition to all the sporting events. Jurassic World will be shown on the big screen in the Edgerton Plaza tonight and Sunday night at 8 p.m. Chair rentals are free when you show your SHU ID. Also, our first-ever Massapalooza takes place on Sunday with a box picnic lunch available for a meal swipe at 4:30 p.m., music at 6:30 and Mass on the Grass at 7. Hope to see you there!

Whatever you decided to do, enjoy the long holiday weekend!