Dr. Petillo's Blog

President Petillo's Blog: October 30, 2015

The month of October has been full of visits from our extended SHU family. After an exciting Homecoming Weekend, we welcomed the families of our students this past weekend. It was equally exciting as they came to campus to check in on their student Pioneers, enjoy the beautiful fall colors here on campus and have fun, SHU style. The weekend’s activities ranged from a wine and cheese reception and SHU Hoops Madness with a special performance by the music group the Sugar Hill Gang to the Kodak Tailgate Party, the football game with more than 5,000 Pioneers fans in attendance (the largest crowd in SHU football’s history) and Family Weekend Mass in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. Visitors also had the chance to hear the SHU choirs’ “Follow Your Dreams” concert. Parents, thank you for the gift of your presence.

Family Weekend

This weekend, the focus was also on families at the International Conference on Child Rights and Sight, which we co-hosted with Yale and the Distressed Children and Infants International (DCI). Conference participants—including a group from SHU—came together to share their efforts and ideas for creating a more just society for children disconnected from health care, education and family. This is our latest collaboration with DCI, and I’m grateful for the civic engagement opportunities it affords the SHU community.

International Conference on Child Rights and Sight

Our Irish Dance Ensemble had a big weekend, too. The team performed at Villanova’s third annual Irish Dance Festival and won first place in three categories while placing in two others. This was the group’s first intercollegiate competition. Their next competition is at the University of Dayton; however, we’ll be able to see them here in Pioneer Nation when they dance in next weekend’s Holiday Extravaganza at the Edgerton. Congratulations on a great success.

Irish Dance Team at Villanova

This week, SHU employees are preparing for Blue Jean Blue Out day on November 6. Next Friday, staff members wear their favorite jeans to work in exchange for a five-dollar donation. Proceeds honor Coach Nof and will go to the Colon Cancer Alliance. What a great and creative way to support a fellow employee’s efforts to stamp out colon cancer!

This week was also Harvest Week with events happening each day leading up to Halloween. The celebration included seasonal snacks, pumpkin decorating, psychic readings and even trick-or-treating. A big thanks to our student government for making these fun fall activities possible.

Jennifer Mattei and Mark Beekey have received a $148,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The Long Island Sound Futures Fund Grant will help them and their colleagues—including SHU students—continue their coastal restoration work at Stratford Point. Congratulations!

Thursday, the SHU Theatre Program premiered its latest production, They’re Playing Our Song. It continues throughout the weekend, and with humor from funny man Neil Simon, it promises to be a great time.

Graffiti can have a negative connotation, but not right now here at SHU. Over the past two weeks, graffiti walls have replaced the usual exhibits at the Art & Design Gallery outside the Edgerton. Our students have been invited to use the walls to freely express their thoughts on anything. The instigators call themselves R.A.T. (Revolutionizing Academic Territory), and they will document our students’ social commentary and art until the walls come down. I’m impressed with our students’ bold creativity and their eagerness to be heard on issues that impact their generation.

Graffiti Exhibit

Yesterday, a team from Consumer Reports was on campus to do research for an upcoming article in the magazine. The article will focus on scales that provide information beyond weight, such as body fat, water, bone mass, etc. To that end, the team visited SHU’s Life & Sport Analysis Clinic at Cambridge to have their body fat tested in the University’s Bod Pod. They will compare those results with the results they get on various “smart scales” to determine the best products out there. That they needed to come here from Yonkers to do their testing is further testament to the great equipment and experiences we are providing to our students.

Consumer Reports Senior Test Program Leader Bernie Dietrick in the Bod Pod

Earlier today, I sent a memo to the faculty, staff and students announcing that the University has entered into an agreement to purchase 150 acres of land on the Housatonic River in Milford that includes the Great River Golf Course and a 32,000 square-foot clubhouse. We are excited about the opportunity to more than double our current acreage and the many opportunities this purchase presents to us.

Great River Golf Course

There is plenty to do on campus this weekend. Before everyone gets dressed up for Halloween, our graduate admissions department is hosting a graduate open house at 9 a.m. for prospective students. Our athletes are also out in force. Today, men’s soccer plays LIU Brooklyn at 3 p.m. Tonight, women’s field hockey plays Fairfield at 7 p.m., and men’s ice hockey plays Canisius at 7:05 p.m. Then, tomorrow, men’s basketball plays the University of Bridgeport at 1 p.m., and women’s ice hockey faces Holy Cross at 3:30 p.m.

Have a happy Halloween, and don’t forget to turn your clocks back for the end of Daylight Saving Time. 

Dr. Petillo's Blog: October 23, 2015

I bring you another installment of my video blog as we prepare to welcome students' families for our annual Family Weekend. I hope you enjoy it as much as your next few days on campus. 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, October 16, 2015

It’s been an exciting week at SHU, and the excitement continues as we head into homecoming weekend. I am looking forward to catching up with our alumni at the many events that Alumni Relations has planned. There truly is something for everyone. Twelve of our alums already received awards at today’s Alumni Luncheon, honoring them for using the skills they learned here at SHU to achieve excellence in life beyond the classroom. The fun continues tonight when professors greet their former students over drinks at Red’s, and afterward, when a group of musicians made up of students, faculty and staff perform a tribute to the Beatles at A Really Big SHU in the Edgerton. A huge thank you to our Alumni Association for everything you have planned for our alumni to enjoy all weekend long. It’s sure to be a Homecoming to remember.

Alumni Awards in the Edgerton Center

This week brought our inaugural Curtis Lecture Series featuring four talks over three days by theologian Tina Beattie of the University of Roehampton. Through her lectures Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Tina explored maternal reflections of human creation, women’s rights and more, and the Q&A sessions afterwards led to some fascinating discussions. Many thanks to Tina for being with us and sharing her insights.

Tina Beattie

I am pleased to announce that Jonas Zdanys is our new poet-in-residence. In addition to teaching creative writing at SHU since 2009, Jonas has published 44 books of his own poetry, as well as translations of Lithuanian literature into English. His appointment is a recognition of his impressive body of work, and I can’t wait to see how he uses his role to strengthen our commitment to the creative arts.

Poet-in-Residence Jonas Zdanys

Congratulations are also in order for Michael Kinney who is Fairfield County CFO of the Year according to the Fairfield County Business Journal. Winners were recognized for contributing to their employers’ growth in spite of a difficult economy. One need only look at the expansion of our campus facilities and financial profile to see Michael’s award is well-deserved. As for this photo of the award being picked up, I’m not sure what to say…Congratulations, Michael?

Michael Kinney - at right, V.P. Michael Iannazzi accepts the award on his behalf

Tuesday, we celebrated Francis Oakley at our annual Fall Faculty Convocation in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. I was delighted to award him an honorary degree celebrating his 40-year career as a professor of history, dean of the faculty and president at Williams College and to welcome him to the Pioneer Family.

From left are President Petillo, Michael W. Higgins, Francis C. Oakley and Trustee James T. Morley.

Following the convocation, the faculty held its annual fall institute, which is organized by Provost Laura Niesen de Abruna. Attendees heard from Dr. Oakley in the morning on the topic of balancing career and scholarship. The afternoon speaker was Louis Soares, vice president of the Center for Policy Research and Strategy at the American Council on Education. His topic was the future of American education. He talked about the way the profile of college students has changed and how college careers will be put together in the future through micro-credentialing and unbundling of curricula.

From left are Louis Soares, Dean Jim Carl, Provost Laura Niesen de Abruna and Francis Oakley.

We also hosted the NEACAC Regional College Fair for the fourth year in a row on Tuesday. Throughout the evening, more than 170 colleges from the United States and abroad were on hand to meet with nearly 1,000 attendees from the Southwest Connecticut area. We are always happy to host this event that brings so many potential students and their families to our campus.

Wednesday, students arrived at the Pitt Center wearing their business best for the annual Job and Internship Fair hosted by our Office of Career Development and Placement. Resumes in hand, almost 800 students of all years and majors networked with professionals representing almost 100 potential employers.  It was our most successful fair ever and a wonderful opportunity for our students to market themselves and get a head start on building their careers.

Career Fair

Thursday, University trustee and Frontier Communications CEO Dan McCarthy visited SHU to talk about today’s technology trends. The lecture covered the Internet of Things, the growing use of tools like 3D printing in everyday life and how machines’ abilities have expanded in our lifetimes by leaps and bounds. He also offered students the leadership and career insights Frontier shares with its new and entry-level employees. All his comments had the central theme that the technology of the future is already here and, in time, will be accessible to everyone. Listening to the conversation in the Forum, surrounded by the state-of-the-art equipment in our Martire Business and Communications Center, it was hard to disagree.

Daniel McCarthy speaks on technology trends

If you’re not a graduate just yet, there is still plenty for you to enjoy this weekend. Saturday evening, the SHU dance program is performing a Harvest Variety Show. It’s their debut performance of the year, and you won’t want to miss it. Then on Sunday, 4 Heart and the SHU Love Women’s Choir will be featured in Pipescreams, a singing celebration of Halloween, with the University of Bridgeport Choir, Fairfield County Children’s Choir, Norma Pfriem Children’s Choir and area musicians at the United Congregational Church in Bridgeport.

Our athletes also make a strong showing this weekend, with SHU field hockey vs. Quinnipiac tonight at 7 p.m., the homecoming football game against Cornell Saturday afternoon, women’s soccer vs. Mt. Saint Mary’s on Sunday at noon and women’s volleyball vs. St. Francis Brooklyn on Sunday at 2 p.m. Go Pioneers!

Finally, Sunday afternoon, we host the first in a series of discussions presented by the Town of Trumbull on the topic of civility. Taking place in the Martire Forum, the first two panels will cover civility in public safety and civility in politics, with featured speakers representing local and national government, as well as local law enforcement.

Bundle up, enjoy the beautiful foliage and have a great weekend!   

President Petillo's Blog: October 9, 2015

Last weekend, we opened October with a celebration of our athletes at the Athletes' Appreciation Mass. It was a good to see so many athletes and students come out, and a nice occasion to reflect on the hard work and outstanding performances of our students.

Congratulations to Bobby Valentine who will receive the Tommy Lasorda Award at the Seventh Annual Latino Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony in December. The Lasorda award is presented annually to outstanding non-Latinos who are considered inspirational friends behind the great success of Latinos in major league baseball. Valentine and Lasorda are longtime friends, and the Hall of Fame manager visited here just last month when he came to Connecticut to participate in a charity roast of Bobby.  

Monday, Campus Ministry began its Heartwarming Clothing Drive. Until October 23, they will be collecting new or used clothes in Hawley Lounge, Campus Ministry, Volunteer Programs and the freshman dorms. All donations will support the Bridgeport Rescue Missions. In addition, the SHU Center for Community Health & Wellness & Project Homeless Connect Bridgeport are sponsoring a coat drive in conjunction with St. Vincent’s “Medical Mission at Home.” Gently used coats, hats, scarves and new socks can be dropped off in the lobby at Cambridge. Thanks to all for your generosity.

Monday also marked the beginning of SHU Safety Week. Throughout the week, SHU Student Government and the department of Public Safety provided programs that ranged from tips for dealing with emergencies and who to contact in a crisis to the importance of fire safety. Students also visited 63’s to sign the Take It On pledge—a promise to confront the tough issue of sexual assault so everyone on campus can live and learn with peace of mind.

Thanks to all of the faculty and staff who turned out for the State of the University address. There are exciting things happening here, and it was great to hear from the senior leaders about the progress we are making toward our strategic plan goals. If you missed the meeting, the presentation can be found on Blackboard.

Thursday, actor Charles Grodin visited campus to meet with the SHU community. A star of movies and television including Midnight Run, Beethoven and Louie, Grodin entertained both longtime fans and newcomers to his work. In particular, he had some words of wisdom for our drama students, encouraging them to be totally prepared for every single audition. That’s good advice for all of us. Thanks to Bobby Valentine for inviting his friend to visit with us.

Connecticut Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey was also on hand Thursday to check out our campus. I think he was impressed with the exciting things that are happening here—especially the high-tech facilities available to our students in the Martire Center.

President Petillo, CT Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey and
State Representative Cristin McCarthy Vahey

Thursday was also the annual health fair put on by Human Resources and the Health Center. Representatives from the American Red Cross, CT Pain Free and even SHU’s own campus ministry, public safety, physical therapy, exercise science and LSAC programs were among the many vendors on hand to provide information on healthy living. There was also time for fun at the dunk tank with the proceeds going to the Norma Pfriem Breast Center.

Today, the College of Health Professions held its annual Community Partner Awards Breakfast to acknowledge individuals or corporations that have demonstrated exceptional collaboration to further the educational goals and mission of the college. This year’s recipients were Evan Pitkoff of Cooperative Educations Services; Shirley Sharmann, professor emeritus of physical therapy at Washington University of St. Louis; and Stu Steinman of WestSports Medicine. All three were nominated by SHU faculty in our College of Health Professions. Congratulations—and thank you for your work on behalf of our students.

From left- Rhea Paul presents to Evan Pitkoff; David Cameron presents to Shirley Sharmann;
and Wendy Bjerke presents to Stu Steinman.

Looking ahead, we have our inaugural Curtis Lecture Series October 13-15 with theologian Tina Beattie providing insights and signing books each of the three nights. Our Graduate Open House is scheduled for Halloween. I’m confident that, for our prospective students, learning about SHU will be a treat.

Before that, however, I hope our students enjoy the long Columbus Day weekend.  On Monday, we have our second open house for prospective freshmen and their families. As always, I encourage you to take an active role by greeting our visitors while they are on campus, stopping by the Pitt Center during check-in or introducing yourself at the

Student Life & Athletics Fair. And on Tuesday, we will be honoring Francis Oakley with an honorary degree during a special academic convocation. He is the Edward Dorr Griffin Professor of the History of Ideas, emeritus, and president emeritus of Williams College as well as president emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies, New York. We are thrilled to have him join the Sacred Heart family.

This weekend, there are opportunities to cheer on the Pioneers throughout the region. Our field hockey and equestrian teams are competing across Connecticut this weekend, and SHU rugby faces Norwich here on campus Saturday at noon. The marching band, directed by Keith Johnston, is also on the road and will represent Pioneer Nation in the Columbus Day parade in New York City. If you’re watching, you’ll find them near New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo, mayor Bill DeBlasio and the Harlem Globe Trotters. As always, I know our Pioneers will make us proud wherever they are.

Have a great weekend!

President Petillo's Blog: October 2, 2015

It’s inspiring to see our students exercise their creativity through work that uses current events to explore personal themes. On September 24, our Theatre Arts Program opened their production of Time Stands Still, a story about a photojournalist who survives a bomb blast in Iraq, only to find it throws her life at home into conflict. If you didn’t catch it at the Edgerton when it opened, I recommend that you see this critically acclaimed play when it continues on campus tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. 

Congratulations to Julie K. DeMartini, an assistant professor in our athletic training program. Julie is the co-author of a new position statement on exertional heat illness published by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). The statement gives trainers best practice prevention, treatment and return-to-play recommendations for avoiding heat stroke—a condition that results in far too many deaths of student-athletes. Julie’s work will be read by over 30,000 Certified Athletic Trainers across the country.

On Monday, the Bobby Valentine Sacred Heart University Golf Outing raised money to sponsor SHU’s athletics program. The tournament welcomed 143 participants, including presenting sponsors Tom and Mike Mendiburu from High Point Solutions and official hosts Don and Jennifer Tory, who attended with their son Jason, a graduate from the class of 2015. Thanks for being with us again, Jason, and thanks to everyone who helped the tournament raise over $250,000.

Tuesday, SHU hosted a day-long Global Service Learning Workshop in the Forum of the Martire Business & Communications Center. Guest presenter Dr. Eric Hartman from the University of Kansas shared expertise on planning service learning trips that maximize the benefits for the communities where students visit. It was exciting to see faculty and staff from colleges all over Connecticut in attendance. Thank you to our Office of Volunteer Programs & Service Learning, along with CT Campus Compact, for coordinating the event.

Wednesday was our Nursing Career Forum where nursing students had a chance to meet with potential employers. Helping our students land internships and jobs is a key component of our nationally ranked program.

At the same time, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Career Development and Placement Center offered a workshop featuring speakers from the SHU faculty and staff, Kaplan Test Prep and regional universities. Students from all majors and class levels attended to discuss topics ranging from navigating the application process to maximizing the graduate school experience after acceptance. Thank you to the coordinators of both events for helping our students develop their careers and expand their minds.

Today, students in our Masters of Science in Finance and Investment Management program (MSFIM) had a chance to lunch with John Chalykoff, dean of our Jack Welch College of Business. A unique aspect of the MSFIM program is the way it integrates academics and research with practical application, professional development and social activities. Today’s lunch followed suit, as students from all over the world came together for a discussion of global business practice. These lunches, coordinated by the students, will continue throughout the semester and beyond.

Many of our athletic teams are home this weekend, which means lots of opportunity to cheer on our Pioneers. Saturday, you can watch the women’s volleyball team face off against Central Connecticut State University at 2 p.m. Then, on Sunday, it’s men’s tennis vs. Siena at noon, women’s soccer vs. Fairleigh Dickinson at 1 p.m., women’s volleyball vs. Bryant at 1 p.m. and men’s ice hockey vs. Dalhousie at 3:30 p.m. It all ends with the Athletics Appreciation Mass at 5 p.m. in the chapel, where you can offer up your thanks (and a prayerful Go Pioneers!) and hope for good health, strong efforts and, yes, victories in the matches ahead.

Finally, while the forecast says hurricane Joaquin will wander out to sea, Public Safety and everyone else here on campus remain prepared for whatever Mother Nature has in store for us. In the event that you need emergency information, you will be updated regularly through email, text, phone calls, our website and social media.

Have a great weekend!