Dr. Petillo's Blog

President Petillo’s Blog: March 29, 2018

It has been a short week, but a busy one.

Last weekend, our pep band held its annual Pioneer Blast concert, playing all the energetic songs featured at sporting events, while our choirs amazed us with their Choral Masterworks performance. Kappa Delta also held its annual Shamrock the Runway charity event for Child Abuse America and St. Joseph’s Parenting Center. The fashion show was lively and entertaining.

We were pleased to have so many alumni and their families at our Easter celebration at West Campus on Sunday. The children of former students enjoyed an Easter egg hunt that involved many tasty treats.


These past four days, students, faculty and staff have participated in Social Justice Week. Groups including La Hispanidad, Residential Life, Volunteer Programs & Service Learning, Campus Ministry and the Office of Global Affairs put on a variety of events. Students donated canned goods for a Stuff-a-Van event, learned about prejudices at the Tunnel of Oppression and took part in the Diversity and Inclusion (Unity) Walk. The peaceful walk began at the chapel and ended at Toussaint Hall. Thank you to those who participated in these important activities. 

Healthcare informatics students showed off their capstone projects at their annual poster session. As always, it was great to see what our students have been learning.

Professors, scholars and students shared and analyzed rock songs that spoke to key themes in history at the “School of Rock: The Songs that Changed our Lives” Human Journey Colloquia series lecture. I hope everyone enjoyed remembering their favorite songs and musicians.

Last night, the band’s wind ensemble performed at a benefit concert to support music education in Haiti in a performance called “Hands Across the Sea.” Some selections were led by special guest conductor, Gunnery Sgt. Stacie Crowther.

Earlier this week, University Advancement held a young alumni panelist event. Current students asked the alumni questions about their college experiences, career choices and more. Thanks to everyone who attended.

From left are alumni Alexa Duffy '16, Chris Minardi '15, John DiBari '14 and Kelly Andersen '15.

As the Theatre Arts Program prepares for its spring musical, In the Heights, they are raising money for those in Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricane Maria. Please help them reach their goal of $10,000 here.

Our men’s volleyball team takes on St. Francis tonight at 7, and tomorrow they face Penn State at 7. On Saturday our men’s lacrosse team plays Mount St. Mary at noon, and our women’s lacrosse team battles Brown at 3. Good luck to all our student-athletes playing home and away.

I wish the SHU community a blessed Passover and Easter and a wonderful long weekend. Enjoy the time off.

President Petillo’s Blog: March 23, 2018

I had a great time at our Dingle campus this week. We took the opportunity to thank our friends and supporters who helped us acquire our new property in County Kerry. I also enjoyed dining with our students and hearing about their learning experiences while studying abroad in Ireland.


While I was away, there was a lot happening on campus. We hosted motivational speaker Simon Nynens at the Martire Forum on Monday. He encouraged audience members to remember the many lessons to be learned from fairy tales. The great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud, Jane McAdam Freud, visited on Thursday to speak about her contributions as a woman in the arts. She shared her sculptures and paintings while reflecting upon her experiences. Swapnil Rai, postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University, presented her lecture “Bollywood’s Gendered Tales & Global Narratives” at the Martire Theater Thursday night.

Drones were flying everywhere around University Commons on Tuesday when Professor Tolga Kaya and his engineering students hosted a fundraising event, Game of Drones. Participants raced small drones through a series of obstacles. All proceeds raised went to the Notre Dame High School STEM club.

Visit the Art & Design Gallery for a new exhibit of our students’ impressive artwork. It runs until Friday, April 6.

For the eighth year, the Business Council of Fairfield County honored SHU as a gold award winner in its annual Healthy Workplaces best practices competition. Kudos to the Office of Human Resources who instituted the SHU Employee Wellness Program in 2007 to promote good health. Great work.


Fifty-eight undergraduate and graduate College of Nursing students were inducted into the Mu Delta chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, an international nursing honor society, over the weekend at the Great River Golf Course. Student honorees demonstrate leadership skills and commitment to global nursing. This was the 27th year for this ceremony. Congrats to all.

SHU and Trinity College Dublin are working together to host a conference, “Deep Time—Historical Exploration of Marine Resources,” regarding medieval to modern fisheries and coastal landscapes in Ireland. John Roney, professor of history and co-chair of SHU in Dingle, will co-host and participate in the conference, which will take place April 9-12. In addition, SHU’s Dingle campus director, Séan Pól Ó Conchúir, and Gary Delaney, campus executive director, will be on hand to speak about SHU’s continuing involvement in the Dingle community.

Social Justice Week begins on Monday. Groups including La Hispanidad, Residential Life, Volunteer Programs & Service Learning, Campus Ministry and the Office of Global Affairs will put on a variety of events throughout the week. I encourage everyone to join the Unity Walk at 2 p.m. on Wednesday beginning at the chapel. Participants can select a ribbon representing an area of diversity to tie to an object at the end of the peaceful walk. You can check out the full schedule of events here.

Professor Bernadette Boyle has been training hard for her role representing SHU in this year’s Boston Marathon. She is running to raise money for our scholarship funds. If you have not done so already, please consider donating here. Just a small donation will help her get to her goal.

Looking for something to do this weekend? You can catch the last performances of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. On Saturday, the pep band presents Pioneer Blast. Listen to the band play the music of Daft Punk, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Green Day and more at the high-energy event at the Edgerton Center. Later in the evening, the choirs will present Choral Masterworks in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks to everyone who helped make last weekend’s Admitted Student Day the largest in SHU history. Please give another warm welcome to all our admitted students who are visiting this weekend. College of Business students are here today, our future College of Health Professions students arrive tomorrow, and College of Nursing students will visit on Sunday.


Our men’s lacrosse team takes on Bryant Saturday at 1. Our softball team plays UMass Lowell Saturday at 1 and again at 3. Good luck to all our student-athletes playing home and away.

Enjoy the spring concert tonight and have a great weekend.

President Petillo’s Blog: March 16, 2018

I hope students enjoyed spring break. Dozens of students participated in Habitat for Humanity projects across the nation, while others went on international service learning trips to support a variety of nonprofit organizations. Great work, all. I hope you have settled back in nicely.

Wednesday a couple hundred students, faculty and staff joined students and others around the country in a walkout in support of measures to stop gun violence. The walkout lasted 17 minutes in memory of the lives lost in Parkland. As always, it was wonderful to see our community come together to stand up for our beliefs—in this case the right to feel safe on campus. Thanks again to Brian Stiltner and Jerry Reid for their support to the student organizers.

This week we celebrated and honored faculty and staff at our annual Founder’s Day celebration. The event started with a service in the Chapel before the presentation of awards in the Edgerton Center. The celebration ended with a reception in University Commons. It was nice to take the opportunity to thank our dedicated faculty and staff – some who have been with us for 45 years.

Members of the community met again this week for the SHU mission and vision discussion. In case you missed this last session, there are two more on March 22 from noon to 1 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. The discussions have been lively and informative. Thank you to those who already shared their thoughts.

Even with some wintry weather, we hosted our share of lectures and events this week. On Monday, the Center for Healthcare Education hosted Lisa Stump, vice president of Yale New Haven Health System. Her lecture was about leveraging technology and the internet to empower good health. Kimberly Phillips-Fein, author and professor of history at New York University, talked about her book, Fear City, which explores the effect the 1970s fiscal crisis had on New York City. Wednesday night, professor Brent Little hosted Theology on Tap at Red’s. His discussion focused on Catholic perspectives on the dignity of work.

Celebrity chef Jet Tila taught free cooking classes at Linda’s on Thursday. Students learned how to make a delicious Asian dish from his cookbook.

We saw some great performances this week as well. Guest pianist Christopher Bakriges and music faculty member and bassist Jeff Fuller put on a great show on Wednesday, as did our Irish Dance Ensemble. With St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, it was great to see our Claddagh Dancers wow us with their talents in the Edgerton. Music faculty member and flutist Ali Ryerson and guest pianist Joyce DiCamillo performed in a Women in Jazz event yesterday. Our theatre arts program put on their first performance of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last night – be sure to catch the show this weekend or next.

I was pleased to see so many students, staff and faculty show up to Student Government’s Hunger Project initiative, a fundraising campaign that raised hunger awareness and provided meals for the local needy. The group worked with the non-profit organization Meals of Hope to make the event possible. Thank you to everyone who took time during the day to help out this great cause or supported the event with a T-shirt purchase.


College of Nursing faculty were in Ghana recently teaching the faculty at the Holy Family College of Nursing and Midwifery. The group was eager, grateful and enthusiastic to learn from our nursing experts.


In case you missed it, be sure to check out the graduate students TV news magazine program, Pulse Plus. It is a great roundup of current events.

Please give a warm Pioneer welcome to our incoming College of Arts & Sciences students on Sunday as we kick off our first Admitted Students Day of the year.

Good luck to our student-athletes playing this weekend. Go Pioneers!

Be sure to follow me on social media for my thoughts on campus happenings.

Have a great weekend.

President Petillo’s Blog: March 2, 2018

It was great to see so many students, faculty and staff attend the Prayers and Reflections service on Wednesday in the Chapel. It was important to acknowledge the lives that have been lost and the need for solutions. Because Sacred Heart University supports the right of everyone at any age to freely express opinions in a respectful and nonviolent matter, we have stated on our website that any disciplinary action resulting from participation in nonviolent protest will not impact an individual’s chance for admission to SHU.


Last weekend we heard our tour choir prepare for their trip through the south of Spain. They sounded great, and I am looking forward to pictures from their trip. Our performing arts students put on a showcase last Saturday to show admitted students what they have to look forward to when they come to SHU next year.

In an exciting initiative with MATTERbox, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand health around the world, and our dining services provider, Chartwells, students put together boxes filled with food for the less fortunate on Tuesday. About 150 boxes will be distributed to the Thomas Merton House in Bridgeport and another 150 boxes will go to the Ronald McDonald House in New Haven. 

We welcomed guest speaker Michael Lee on Wednesday who presented the lecture “The Liberation Spirituality of Oscar Romero.” Michael spoke about the revolutionary work of the archbishop and social justice activist. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

School of Communication & Media Arts students Jacob Doble, Paxton McLane and Natalie Moncada have a photo exhibit in the Martire Center on the second floor. A reception was held on Thursday, but the pieces will stay up for some time. I encourage you to take a look at your peers’ work.

Gary Rose, chair of the government, politics and global studies program, hosted perspective gubernatorial candidate Oz Griebel and his running mate Monte Frank on Thursday. Gary’s senior seminar students as well as others listened to the duo explain their platform. Students asked insightful questions about the economy, jobs and education. Thanks for hosting, Gary.

As you may recall math professor Bernadette Boyle was randomly selected to represent SHU in this year’s Boston Marathon. She will be running to raise money for scholarship funds. If you have not done so already, please consider donating here.

Congratulations to the women’s bowling team for winning its third consecutive Northeast Conference regular-season title. And congrats to the women’s hockey team for winning the inaugural NEWHA championship game over number one seed St. Anselm. Great work.  


Our men’s volleyball team takes on George Mason tonight at 7 and again on Saturday at 5. Our men’s lacrosse team plays Providence on Saturday at 1. Our women’s basketball team battles Fairleigh Dickinson at 1 on Sunday. Good luck to all our student-athletes playing home and away.

Be sure to follow me on social media for updates.

Whether you are spending time with family and friends, traveling to warmer climes or participating in a mission trip, I wish you a very happy and safe spring break. Get some rest and come back ready to tackle the last few months of the academic year.