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St. Bonaventure University students voted Café La Verna as the name of their new gourmet coffee café, a 5,500-square-foot addition to Hickey Dining Hall currently under construction and expected to be completed this spring.

La Verna is the name of the mountain retreat that was given to St. Francis and his brothers. It was a place to which Francis returned frequently and where St. Bonaventure wrote the “Itinerarium,” the foundational text for the Intellectual Journey course and the Clare College core curriculum at St. Bonaventure.

Three teams of students submitted the winning name, including: (team one) Laura L’Esperance, Alex Cole, Joseph Perry, Edward Perry, Joseph O’Halloran, Elizabeth D’Onofrio and Celia Bogan; (team two) Benjamin Christian, Scott Eddy, Gary Gavarone, Mark Inman, Garrett Lyons, Amy Passalugo and Benjamin Yeager; and (team three) Dominick Patrone, Ashley Jankowski, Joe Bradley, Christopher Caldwell, David Krajewski and Steven Quinn.

The University will honor the winning team members by displaying a permanent plaque recognizing them inside the new café.

The gourmet coffee café naming contest was suggested by Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., University president, to promote community building and teamwork among students as classmates in an atmosphere of camaraderie and respect.

The contest began in November and inspired 19 teams to submit more than 30 potential names. Br. F. Edward Coughlin, O.F.M., vice president for Franciscan Mission, led the effort for the University with assistance from Robert Donius, vice president for University Ministries, and Bryan S. Smith, coordinator of Internal Communications.

Students were encouraged to vote online and choose their favorite name from the final four selected by a University panel. The finalists were Francesco’s (69 votes), Café La Verna (198), JAVAventure (51) and Gubbio Café (54).

The four finalists met all guidelines for submission, which required the name to be brief, creative and memorable in expressing the purpose of the cafe. The name was to have an element of connection to the University’s Franciscan heritage and its 150th anniversary celebration.

Popular and long-running Irish-Canadian folk group The Irish Rovers will perform at 8 p.m. on Monday, March 19, in St. Bonaventure University’s San Damiano Room, the former Francis Hall Chapel. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24.

The group is best known for its 1967 hit recording of Shel Silverstein’s “The Unicorn” and starring in several variety programs on Canadian television.

“The Irish Rovers’ longevity as folk musicians/performers within the Irish music tradition for more than 40 years is a further testament to their musical authenticity, which is intrinsically timeless within the best musical artists,” said Steve Plesac, director of Student Activities at St. Bonaventure. “Does it really get any better than The Irish Rovers live and in concert at St. Bonaventure University within the intimate concert venue that is the San Damiano Room in March? NO — NAY — NEVER.”

The story of the Irish Rovers begins in Toronto, Canada, in 1963. The newly immigrated George Millar and Jim Ferguson met at an Irish function and ended up singing together until dawn. From then on, they performed as a duo until George’s cousin, Joe Millar, joined the following year. After several months of performing around Ontario, the trio made their way to Calgary, Alberta, where they joined George’s brother, Will Millar. The four Irish Rovers from Northern Ireland then traveled to America.

The Irish Rovers found themselves at a famous San Francisco folk club, the Purple Onion, where they headlined for an unprecedented 22 sold-out weeks. The folk clubs of California became the learning grounds for the young Rovers, and through hard work and a bit of Irish luck they were offered a recording contract with Decca Records. Shortly after, an old friend from Ireland, Wilcil McDowell, joined the band to enhance their sound while rounding out the group.

In 1980, the band produced a crossover hit with a cover of Tom Paxton’s “Wasn’t That a Party.” The success of this out-of-character country-rock style recording led the band to rename itself The Rovers. After changing their style for the remainder of the 1980s, the musicians scored follow-up hits with songs such as “Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy,” “No More Bread and Butter” and the Christmas hit “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.” By the 1990s, the band was once again known as the Irish Rovers.

Beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday (Jan. 24), tickets to the concert can be purchased at the Reilly Center Ticket Office, Tops Friendly Markets, online at www.tickets.com or by phone toll-free at 888-223-6000. Tickets are $27 and all seats will be reserved. The doors will open at 7 p.m. the night of the performance. For more information or sound clips, visit The Irish Rovers’ Web site www.irishrovers.info.

As a member of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (cIcu) Board of Directors, Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F, S.T.D, met with New York state budget director Paul Francis Tuesday, Jan. 23, in Albany to advocate for state funding for higher education.

She was joined by presidents from four other cIcu institutions, including Adlephi University, The College of St. Rose, Le Moyne College and The Cooper Union.

The group represented the interests of all independent colleges in New York state. Sr. Margaret said their goal was to make sure no more cutbacks to state aid are made and to lobby for additional funding for programs such as the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP).

In 2005-2006, St. Bonaventure University received more than $2.6 million in state aid, including over $2 million for TAP.

Founded in 1956, cIcu represents 110 independent campuses across New York state. Its mission is to develop consensus among a diverse membership and to advance higher education public policy.

Sr. Margaret is a member of the commission’s governing board of trustees, which is composed of chief executive officers or institutional trustees of member campuses and reflects the diversity of the cIcu membership in terms of institutional type, size and geographic location.

St. Bonaventure University alumni will return to their alma mater Feb. 2 to 4 for Homecoming Weekend.

Homecoming events begin at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, with a student/alumni networking hour in Reilly Center Room 219. Those who wish to attend are asked to RSVP to alumni@sbu.edu.

From 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, seniors and alumni can enjoy a social hour in the newly renovated Rathskeller. Following the social hour, alumni can share their Bona spirit as the women’s basketball team faces Dayton at 7 p.m. in the Reilly Center Arena and the men’s club hockey team takes on Cortland at 7:30 p.m. at the William O. Smith Recreation Center in Olean.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, alumni are welcome to “Share Bona’s” in University Ministries, where they will have the opportunity to learn how to become an admissions volunteer.

The men’s basketball team faces off with Duquesne at 2 p.m. Saturday. Following the game there will be an alumni reception in the Rathskeller. Liturgy will be held in the University Chapel at 5 p.m. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday guests can tour exhibitions including, “Memoria: Assisi and the Jews, 1943-1944” and “Whaam!: The late 20th Century Art Scene” in The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Liturgy will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, in the University Chapel. All are welcome to attend the women’s basketball game at 1 p.m. that day.

For more information on Homecoming events, call or e-mail the Office of Alumni Services: (716) 375-2302 or alumni@sbu.edu. Alumni Homecoming Weekend is sponsored by the St. Bonaventure Alumni Association and the Class of 2007.

In celebration of diversity, St. Bonaventure University’s Campus Activities Board is sponsoring a performance by comedian/lecturer Azeem at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 31, in the San Damiano Room in Francis Hall.

Azeem created a program titled P.E.A.C.E., which stands for Proper Education Always Corrects Error. It deals with many social issues including racism, sexism, nationalism, and materialism. P.E.A.C.E. has been designed in hopes of eliminating maladaptive behaviors.

The program combines both laughter and sincerity to expand the minds of high school and college students nationwide.

Azeem strives to enable students to perform a mental pathology, determine their own prejudices and find ways to fix them. Azeem has been an inner-city activist for more than a decade. He has counseled both youth and adults and lectured in various churches, high schools, colleges, juvenile detention centers and prisons.

This program is free and open to the public. More information can be found about Azeem at his Web site www.itzazeem.com.

Welcome back students! For information on Teacher Recruitment Days, FREE GRE, GMAT, LSAT and MCAT practice tests, and on-campus recruiting, visit our Web site.

Date: Friday, Jan. 26, 2007
Speaker: Dr. Chris Stanley, Jim DiRisio and several faculty members
Time: Lunch starts at noon, Forum goes from 12:35 to 1:30 p.m., including Q&A
Place: University Club - Above Hickey; please sign in and pay $3 at the front desk before proceeding upstairs.
Title: "Faculty and Recruiting: Tips for Success"
Abstract: Several members of the faculty, together with admissions director Jim DiRisio, will share ideas about what faculty members can do to attract high school students to St. Bonaventure. Attention will be given to both short-term and long-term strategies. Sponsored by the Enrollment Management Committee of the Faculty Senate.

Dr. Chris Stanley, professor of theology, has had two papers accepted for presentation at international conferences in the summer of 2007. The first paper, titled "Postcolonial Perspectives on Paul," will be presented in the "Paul and Pauline Literature" section at the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Vienna, Austria, July 22-26, 2007. The second paper, "Ethnic Rhetoric in the Letters of Paul," will be the subject of a two-hour discussion session in the "Paul and Rhetoric Seminar" at the annual meeting of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS), an elite international organization of New Testament scholars, in ibiu, Romania, July 31 to Aug. 4. Both papers are directly related to his current book project, titled "Neither Jew Nor Greek: Ethnic Rhetoric in the Letters of Paul."

Dr. Kimberly Young, professor of management sciences, published the book chapter, Controlling Internet Abuse in the Workplace: A Framework for Risk Management in the textbook, “Transformation of the Workplace: The Web and Work in the 21st Century.” The book is distributed nationally through Advances in Management Information Systems and the chapter outlines a comprehensive model to deal with employee Internet abuse, including hiring practices, personnel assessment and employee training. The book is edited by Drs. Anandarajan, Teo, and Simmers from Drexel University and published by M.E. Sharpe, Inc., in New York.