Dr. Petillo's Blog

President Petillo's Blog: June 17, 2016

It’s been another exciting week here at SHU. Our campus was again flooded with new Pioneers and their parents on Monday and Tuesday as we conducted our last freshman orientation of the summer. It was a pleasure hosting the students, and we can’t wait to have them back in just a few short months.

One of our traditions each summer is to have the incoming freshman read the same novel, and then we have the author come speak early in the fall semester. This year, students are reading Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers. I often read the book as well and thought faculty and staff might like to do the same.

Last night, our master’s in communication (MACOMM) students participated in the fifth annual SHU Media Exchange event. Moderated by former NBC and CBS anchor Faith Daniels, the event included a great panel of speakers. The event is fully run by the MACOMM students and provides a chance for them to showcase all the skills they have learned. Thank you to everyone who attended this great event.

SHU hosted its second Digital Marketing Evening at our Graduate Center at Landmark Square in Stamford yesterday. The event, moderated by SHU Professor Anca Micu, consisted of a panel of highly qualified professionals. They talked about the skills needed to have a successful career in digital marketing.

Our Alumni Association’s Summer Series continues! Alumni gathered last night at the Public House restaurant in New York City for some networking and reunions. We were pleased so many Pioneers came out to catch up, enjoy some food and drinks and reminisce about SHU. Next week the Series will be back in Connecticut.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

President Petillo’s Blog – June 10, 2016

It has been another beautiful week on campus and wonderful to see the place filled with students and parents. We’ve already greeted two groups of our newest Pioneers and their families for orientation, and our final group will visit next week. Our student ambassadors and admissions staff did an outstanding job making our new students feel at home. It was great seeing their excitement as they walked around campus and chatted with new friends. I’m also always amazed at how quickly students and families embrace the spirit of SHU. One example that struck me especially this week was when parents of an incoming student who had met Kaitlyn Doorhy’s parents and sister and heard their story took the time to place a fresh bouquet of roses under Kaitlyn’s memorial tree. It was a kind and thoughtful gesture that did not go unnoticed. Thank you.

On Monday, Sacred Heart held its annual Pioneer Open golf tournament. The well-attended event at our Great River Golf Course in Milford raised money for our scholarship programs. We thank everyone for coming out and supporting the cause.


Fun news for our alumni: our Alumni Association officially kicked off its Summer Series on Thursday at Great River. Every Thursday throughout the summer, the Association will host a get together somewhere in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey or Massachusetts. Catch up with former classmates over good food and drink.


Congratulations to Michael W. Higgins, vice president for Mission and Catholic Identity, whose book, The Unquiet Monk, won an honorable mention award in the category of biography from the Catholic Press Association (CPA). In total, Michael has received 16 awards from the CPA. Great work.

Nearly 100 third- and fourth-grade students from Trumbull and Bridgeport schools came to SHU on Wednesday to participate in Professor Randall Glading and Charles Britton’s Classes Without Walls initiative. After weeks of talking to their peers via the Internet, the students met face-to- face at our Frank and Marisa Martire Business & Communications Center for learning activities, parachute games on the quad and lunch at Linda’s.


Athletics has much to celebrate this week. Our women’s track and field coaching staff was named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Women’s Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year on Wednesday. Also on Thursday we learned that for the fifth time in the award’s six-year existence, the SHU athletic department won the NEC Building Communities Award. The award is presented annually to the NEC member that demonstrates the highest dedication to making an impact in the community. The 9,000 hours of community service this year by student-athletes and coaches is an incredible feat when you consider schedules filled with classes and practices. Congratulations to everyone. 

Next week we kick off our United Way Campaign. As we do with our Horizons program and many of our programs with area schools, the local United Way does a lot to improve the lives of children in the surrounding communities. Please join us in supporting this worthy cause.

Enjoy this incredible weather and a great weekend!

President Petillo’s Blog: June 3, 2016

Earlier this week, I shared the sad news that Melvin Gordils, a student in SHU’s physical therapy program, lost his life in a car accident over the holiday weekend. Since then, I have heard from many of you about the impact Melvin made on you as a student and a person. Professor Peter Ronai shared that Melvin was a “kind, positive spirit with an upbeat personality and a good sense of humor. He was always one of the first students to try out practical activities in class.” Professor Beau Greer said that every Friday Melvin always wished every student in the class, either individually or by group, a good weekend. “In my senior seminar, while some other students seemed more interested in texting during documentaries, he was always sitting on the edge of his seat during them. I’m sure this is a function of his age as well, but compared to his peers, he was the most genuinely interested in learning I’ve seen in my 10 years at SHU,” Beau wrote.

Professor Marie Hulme said Melvin’s thoughtful insight into literature made her spring 2015 semester one of the most enjoyable in all her teaching years. She kept Melvin’s remarks from the 2015 faculty institute where he presented on a project titled “Our Odysseus.” He contributed original prose poems to describe characters from the book Odysseus. Melvin made the following comments at the institute. “Through this project, I was given the opportunity to use my creativity while deepening my understanding of the poem. I would just like to read some of my original prose poems written about three of the main characters. I wrote them after my classmates provided me with details about them and I re-envisioned that information into original interpretations of those characters.” His words highlight what SHU is all about and what we hope students accomplish here. We continue to keep him, his family and his friends in our thoughts and prayers.

We received the exciting news this week that our student-athletes won the Northeast Conference (NEC) Overall Commissioner’s Cup and the women’s cup. We were second in the chase for the men’s cup. The women’s cup is presented annually to the NEC member that achieves the greatest overall success in women’s athletics, and the Commissioner’s Cup is given to the NEC member that has the highest record in overall standings.

Even more importantly, our SHU student-athletes combined for an academic year GPA of 3.31 during the 2015-16 season. Over the two semesters, there were 54 perfect 4.0 semesters and a total of 537 Dean’s List honorees. During the year, Pioneer student-athletes recorded 8,392 hours of community service, taking part in events such as Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the CT Challenge Bike Ride, MS Walk and reading to school children in Bridgeport. Congrats to our athletes and entire athletics department.

Derek Moore, SHU’s assistant wrestling coach, was inducted into the California Wrestling Hall of Fame in San Jose last weekend. Derek, a California native, was one of 10 inductees. Just last month, Derek graduated with a master’s in business administration and was his class speaker at commencement exercises. Congratulations on this great accomplishment, Derek.

Artwork from Trumbull students was on display at SHU’s Art & Design Gallery on Sunday, May 22. Faculty and students from the school system took in the display, enjoyed refreshments and listened to the Trumbull High School’s string ensemble. It is our pleasure to host these types of community events and give back whenever we can. I hope everyone in attendance had a nice time.

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of hosting the Bridgeport Regional Business Council’s Inside the CEO’s Office event at our Martire Center and serving as their guest speaker. I’d like to thank the BRBC for the opportunity to share the exciting things that are happening here and the positive impact we have on area businesses.

Who’s ready for some golf? On Monday, SHU is hosting one of its biggest scholarship fundraisers, the 27th annual Pioneer Open. Held at our own Great River Golf Course, this tournament raises funds for University scholarship programs. Good luck to everyone playing and remember to have fun!

This coming week, we welcome our newest Pioneers to campus in the first of three orientation sessions. I know our admissions and student life teams have a lot of fun activities in store as well as all the necessary information to ensure they are ready when they arrive here in August.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend! Enjoy!