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St. Bonaventure University senior Elizabeth Chugg of Senecaville, Ohio, will address her classmates and guests at the University’s 147th Commencement Exercises at 10:30 a.m. Sunday in the Reilly Center Arena.

Chugg will encourage fellow members of the Class of 2007 to “lead a life uncommon.”

“I take the attitude that with all that we have learned throughout our uncommon lives we can change the world, even just a little bit for the better. Our life experiences incorporated with the Bonaventure education have afforded us that chance to make a difference in the world …,” says Chugg.

A sociology major, Chugg will be commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the ROTC program’s Commissioning Ceremony Saturday. She served as the spring semester Cadet Battalion Commander and is a Dean’s List student. In October, Chugg will head to South Korea as a Medical Service Corps officer.

Some 414 undergraduate and 106 graduate students will participate in Commencement Exercises, during which the University will focus on the great Franciscan heritage that its students share.

Fr. Dominic V. Monti, O.F.M., vicar provincial of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, will be the keynote speaker during the University’s 147th Commencement Exercises at 10:30 a.m. Sunday in the Reilly Center Arena. Fr. Dominic, an internationally recognized expert in the field of church history and Franciscan studies, served as interim president from 2003 to 2004 — the period during which undergraduate members of the Class of 2007 were freshmen and sophomores.

Also during Commencement, the University will honor its most senior friar, Fr. Daniel A. Hurley, O.F.M., by presenting him with an honorary degree, a Doctor of Pedagogy, pedagogiae doctoris.

Fr. Dan is a founding member of the Mt. Irenaeus community and is celebrating his 45th year of service to St. Bonaventure this year.

Commencement Weekend begins Friday with a Candlelight Ceremony at 8:45 p.m. on the steps of Plassmann Hall. The ROTC Commissioning Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Rigas Family Theater of The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Baccalaureate Mass begins at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the Reilly Center Arena.

Four members of the Class of 2007 will be recognized for their post-Commencement volunteer service plans during St. Bonaventure University’s Baccalaureate Mass at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 12, in the Reilly Center Arena.

Robert M. Donius, vice president for University Ministries, said, "We are proud of all of our seniors, who are committing themselves to doing their part toward making the world more peaceful and life enhancing. In a particular way we commend our four graduates who are doing so in volunteer service."

Two of the seniors, Christopher Caldwell, a sociology major from Bolton, Conn., and Yvelisse Taveras, a Spanish major from the Bronx, plan to volunteer with the Franciscan Volunteer Ministry. The Franciscan Volunteer Ministry is a group of lay men and women, living in community, who dedicate themselves to ministry in the Church in collaboration with the Franciscans of Holy Name Province.

Sean Ryan, a journalism/mass communication major from Allegany, and Emily Soule, a Spanish major from East Syracuse, will be volunteering on the Gulf Coast through AmeriCorps.

Ryan plans to work in Bay St. Louis, Miss., which is about an hour east of New Orleans.

"I had an amazing time down there, and met some really nice and interesting people. We gutted houses that were destroyed by the hurricanes, and also did construction on houses that were being rebuilt," he said.

"I loved every minute of the BonaResponds trip, and it was the defining factor in making my decision to join AmeriCorps. I have never done any volunteer service in my life, before BonaResponds, but now I consider it a ‘calling’ so to speak," added Ryan.

He will be in the Bay St. Louis area for a year, assisting with rebuilding homes and leading volunteer groups (like BonaReponds) that come to the region.

Soule will be in New Orleans, tutoring elementary school-age children affected by Hurricane Katrina and doing service projects to help rebuild the city, such as painting houses and murals, and building playgrounds.

"I always knew that I wanted to volunteer after graduation, and I am really excited to be a part of rebuilding the city," said Soule. "My service commitment is only for a year, but I have a feeling that I will want to be down there longer."

AmeriCorps is a network of local, state, and national service programs that connects more than 70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet our country’s critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.

During Baccalaureate Mass, senior class vice president Andrew J. Newhart, a political science major from Rochester, will give the welcome and Fr. Michael Calabria, O.F.M., vicar of the St. Bonaventure Friary, and Arabic lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages, will be the presider and homilist.

Senior class officers Laura A. Tucker, a journalism/mass communication major from Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.; Jennifer L. Gallagher, a finance major from Rochester; and Stephen P. Malley, a political science major from Pittsford, N.Y., will serve as candle and cross bearers.

The readings will be given by Dr. David DiMattio, dean of Clare College and senior class adviser, and Marilyn Brutus, an English major from Ridge, N.Y. General Intercessions will be led by Colleen A. Hannon, a journalism/mass communication major from West Greenwich, R.I. The gifts will be presented by Natalia Cardona, a psychology major from Jackson Heights, N.Y., Christopher Caldwell and Kelly J. Eschberger, a journalism/mass communication major from West Seneca.

Music will be provided by the Baccalaureate Mass Choir, under the direction of Peter Ghiloni, associate University minister and director of liturgy and worship.

The St. Bonaventure University U.S. Army ROTC program is proud to announce the 2007 Commissioning Ceremony for its seven new second lieutenants going into the U.S. Army. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 12, in the Rigas Family Theater in The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Additionally, a United States Marine Corps officer candidate will be commissioned as a second lieutenant.

During the ceremony, Brig. Gen. Maureen Keenan LeBoeuf (Ret.), a former St. Bonaventure University Army ROTC cadet and a member of the Class of 1976, will be the guest speaker. She is a member of the St. Bonaventure University Board of Trustees. Immediately following the ceremony, the traditional silver dollar salute will occur outside of the Quick Center for the Arts. This year’s commissionees are:

Nathan A. Christopher, an English major from Dunkirk. He enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) as a freshman and received a three-year advanced designee scholarship at St. Bonaventure University. Christopher is a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Airborne School.

Upon completion of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, he was selected for commissioning as a Military Intelligence officer with a branch detail to Armor. As an ROTC cadet, he has served as the Battalion Commander and the Alpha Company Commander.

Elizabeth Chugg, a sociology major from Senecaville, Ohio. She enrolled in the ROTC as a freshman and received a three-year scholarship at St. Bonaventure University. Upon completion of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, Chugg was selected for commissioning as a Medical Service Corps Officer.

As an ROTC cadet, she has served as the Alpha Company Commander and the Battalion Commander.

Margaret Kubiak, a business administration major (concentration in marketing) from Buffalo. She enrolled in the ROTC as a freshman and received a three-year scholarship at St. Bonaventure University. Kubiak is a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne School and was assigned Cadet Troop Leader Training at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Upon completion of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, Kubiak was selected for commissioning as an Engineer officer. As an ROTC cadet, she has served as the Bravo Company Commander, the captain of the Ranger Challenge team and Battalion S-5.

Donald C. Mills IV, from Heidelberg, Germany, will graduate with a major in history and a minor in art history. He enrolled in the ROTC as a freshman and received a three-year scholarship at St. Bonaventure University. Mills is a graduate of the U.S. Army Airborne School.

Upon completion of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, Mills was selected for commissioning as a Chemical Corps officer. As an ROTC cadet, he has served as the Battalion S-4, and S-3.

Maureen O’Brien, a political science major from Allegany. She enrolled in the ROTC as a freshman and received a one-year scholarship at St. Bonaventure University. O’Brien was assigned Drill Cadet Leader Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

Upon completion of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, she was selected for commissioning as an Engineer officer. As an ROTC cadet, she served as the Bravo Company Commander, and Battalion Executive Officer.

David Patello, a history major from Belmont. He enrolled in the ROTC as a freshman and received a three-year advanced designee scholarship at St. Bonaventure University.

Upon completion of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, Patello was selected for commissioning as a Field Artillery officer. As an ROTC cadet, he has served as Bravo Company XO and Battalion S-3.

Kyla Zack, a sociology major from East Aurora. She enrolled in the ROTC as a freshman and received a four-year scholarship at St. Bonaventure University. Upon completion of the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, Zack was selected for commissioning as a Quartermaster officer.

As an ROTC cadet, she served as Alpha Company Executive Officer and Battalion S-5.

Gregory Meyer, a political science major from Maples, N.Y. He enrolled in the U.S. Marine Corps Platoon Leadership Course in his freshman year. He attended Officer Candidates School in the summers of 2005 and 2006.

Once commissioned he will spend six months at The Basic School in Quantico, Va., to determine his Military Occupational Specialty.

The labors of half a life have finally borne fruit for professors Dr. John Mulryan and Dr. Steven Brown with the publication of Natale Conti's “Mythologiae,” the first complete, fully annotated English translation of the most important mythography published during the Renaissance.

Conti's huge work — more than 1,000 pages in the original texts — appeared in 27 editions during the 16th and 17th centuries and was the most popular handbook of myth for the entire period.

Conti provides a comprehensive coverage of the vast range of Greek and Roman myth, and subjects each myth to a tripartite analysis of its historical, "scientific," and ethical foundations. Translated into idiomatic English from the Frankfurt 1581 edition, the text is immediately accessible to scholars, students, and the general public.

“First-rate scholarship takes time, lots of time,” Mulryan said. “But it is for the ages, not for today or tomorrow.”

Mulryan (English) and Brown (Classics), professors at SBU since the 1960s, collaborated on the translation not long after Mulryan began working on the book in 1971. Various hurdles along the way slowed down a project Mulryan thought would take five years to complete.

“It probably took three times as long for us to translate it as it did for Conti to write it,” Mulryan said.

BonaResponds is seeking local volunteers to help in the massive cleanup effort in Greensburg, Kan., 95 percent of which was destroyed last week in a deadly tornado.

The St. Bonaventure University-based service organization, which has made several relief trips to the Gulf Coast since Katrina, to Enterprise, Ala., after a tornado in March, and to Buffalo after the freak October snowstorm, will spend more than a week in Kansas, leaving campus May 15 and returning May 25.

The cost for the 10-day trip is only $99, thanks to the donation of two University vans.

“Thanks to the wonderful generosity of the SBU Athletics Department, BonaResponds has been able to dramatically lower the cost of going to Kansas,” said Jim Mahar, finance professor and BonaResponds adviser. The cost includes food, transportation and lodging, he said.

To sign up for the trip or for more information, contact Mahar via e-mail at BonaResponds@sbu.edu.

BonaResponds will be working with Handson Disaster Response (HODR.org), RandysRangers (RandysRangers.com), and Persevere Volunteers (PersevereVolunteers.org), Mahar said.

Work will include saving any items not destroyed, hauling debris, cutting trees, cooking, and offering support to the victims, Mahar said.

"Your work will be greatly appreciated, and you will have fun at the same time,” Mahar said.

When the temperature hit 20 below zero early in February of this year, two major water pipes burst at Trinity Catholic Academy, tripping the sprinkler system and causing near-catastrophic damage to the three-year-old school in South Buffalo.

When a call for help went out to the technical director of St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts (QCA), he didn’t think twice before agreeing to help.

Established by the Buffalo Diocese in 2004, Trinity Catholic Academy was created by combining the former St. Theresa’s with St. Agatha’s and Holy Family schools. A strong performing arts curriculum was priority from the beginning. Beyond regularly attending professional performances, administrators decided students should also learn by doing.

K-8th graders at Trinity Catholic are introduced to all aspects of the theater, starting with mask making in kindergarten and going on to explore lighting, sets and sound for the theater. Advanced students even learn to operate basic professional light and sound boards. Right from the start, the school also presented two performances each of two musicals a year.

The school sees itself as a “feeder program” for the prestigious Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, Buffalo’s 30-year-old performing arts magnet school. Trinity’s musicals have been so successful, in fact, that attendance is now up to nearly 500 people per performance, and a third performance is likely to be added for the coming year.

Even after the burst pipes caused near-complete damage, Jim Missall recalls students coming up to him and saying, “Don’t worry, Mr. Missall, the musical will happen.” Missall, a veteran of Franklin Telecom of Kenmore, N.Y., serves as the school’s all-volunteer technical director. Adopting the student’s positive attitude, Missall began approaching theater supply companies and area colleges for help. Several companies came through with generous donations.

Don Hopwood, technical director of the Rigas Family Theater at the QCA, immediately committed his own staff as well as three St. Bonaventure student stage hands to the cause.

Hopwood and assistant Tiffany Dole first went down to scope out the job and go over plans for the upcoming musical. Next, SBU seniors Richard Zuber and Malissa Bergner and freshman Chelsea Horak accompanied them down to Trinity with all the rigging, lights and other equipment needed to make the show happen. The team worked with Missall and students at Trinity to rig out the stage from top to bottom.

“The Quick Center crew has become a positive role model,” Missall added, “teaching us as they worked tirelessly on getting our stage set up. We could have never done it without their help. The following day when our lights needed a different plug, Josh, one of our students, said, ‘Don’t worry, ‘Hops’ (Don Hopwood) showed me how to do it.’ He wired it without a problem and we were able to use the fixture.”

Joseph LoSchiavo, executive director of the QCA said, “The timing was perfect – our own season had just ended, so the equipment was available. It was a no-brainer.”

When Hopwood was asked about the project, which will eventually involve at least three round-trips to the school, a distance of about 75 miles, and countless hours of volunteer time, he said, “It’s about the kids. You gotta do it for the kids, man.”

The musical, which takes place on May 18, is AmeriKids, by Kathie Hill, which follows delegates to the annual “AmeriKids Convention” as they learn about the faith that made our country great. It is a fun mix of patriotism and faith for the whole family.

Shows are at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. and tickets are $3 per person/$2 for students. Call (716) 822-4546 for more information.

The Buffalo Niagara YMCA presented St. Bonaventure University with the Red Triangle Award at its annual awards ceremony Tuesday, April 24.

The Red Triangle is given to an organization that has on a continual basis provided significant support and resources enabling the YMCA to carry out its mission of helping individuals and families reach their fullest potential in terms of spirit, mind and body. Referencing the Bible verse “that they may all be one” (John 17:21), the triangle signifies spirit, mind and body, which are a necessary part of man’s essential unity.

Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D, president of St. Bonaventure University, and Kevin Brayer, executive director of the University’s Buffalo Center, accepted the award on behalf of the Buffalo Center MBA program.

In the fall of 2005, the MBA class led by Dr. Todd Palmer, assistant professor of management sciences, facilitated in the consolidation of the Erie County and Niagara County YMCAs. The MBA students did an extensive evaluation of the impact of joining the two counties’ YMCAs, resulting in their successful merger.

“It was a delight to work with the dedicated individuals of the YMCA and together make the consolidation both positive and beneficial for both counties,” Palmer said.

St. Bonaventure University offers graduate programs in a weekend format at the Buffalo Center campus located at 5200 South Park Ave. in Hamburg. Students can earn their master’s degrees in Business Administration, Professional Leadership and Integrated Marketing Communications in less than two years. St. Bonaventure University’s Buffalo Center has been offering graduate degrees since 1992.

The counseling honor society Chi Sigma Iota has inducted 12 new members from St. Bonaventure University.

Established in 1985 at the Ohio University, the international honor society is directed toward students, professional counselors and counselor educators. For students to be eligible they must have a grade point average of 3.5 or above and be enrolled in a graduate-level counseling program.

Dr. Mary O. Adekson, associate professor of counselor education, is the faculty adviser of the Phi Rho chapter at St. Bonaventure.

According to the Chi Sigma Iota Web site, the motive for forming an international honor society in counseling was to recognize superb academic achievement as well as outstanding service within the counseling profession. There are 281 Chi Sigma Iota chapters within the United States, Europe and the Philippines. The chapters include more than 10,000 active members and more than 50,000 initiated members.

The inductees include: Jillian Anthony of Coudersport, Pa.; Joshua M. Gilevski of Jamestown, N.Y.; Lindsay Ann Hostranader of Hornell, N.Y.; Audrey Latendresse of Repentigny, QC, Canada; Mindi Rae Lewis of Olean; Patti A. Lewis of Bradfor, Pa.; Kasi M. Maleski of Olean; Michele A. Meleen of Mayville, N.Y.; Tara Nolan of Allegany; Carlie A. Phillips of Allegany; Anne Riddle of St. Marys, Pa.; and Shawn Wolfgram of Rochester.

A dozen faculty and staff joined together in the third floor art studio of the Quick Art Center once a week for five weeks to enjoy creative fellowship in the workshop “The Human Form Divine” offered by Constance Pierce, artist and faculty member in SBU’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts. Participants experimented with a variety of media, including charcoal, watercolors, inks, pastels and pencils while sketching from a live model.

Pierce said, “Throughout the centuries, artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt and Blake have sought to communicate the spiritual depth of the human soul through expression of the human form; and sketching the human form teaches surrendered attention to the spirit within.” Faculty and staff participants from a variety of departments, including English, history, philosophy, theology, education, journalism and others joined together to discover and renew their creative life in this communal QCA spring workshop. The “Human Form Divine” was made possible by a grant from The Journey Project.

Fr. Michael Calabria, O.F.M., lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages, will speak on Islam at the Franciscan Forum in Colorado Springs, June 7-10, 2007. He then leaves for Egypt, where he will teach at a Coptic-Catholic Seminary in Egypt during the summer.

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Constance Pierce accepted an invitation to create an exhibition of imaging journals for the Divinity Library of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. She displays two of her own journal pages alongside more than a dozen Imaging Journals created by St. Bonaventure students, faculty and alumni who participated in her imaging journal courses and workshops on campus. Featured are the journals of alumna Alexandra Svendsen ('03 and '06) that juxtapose image and text in a personal dialogue with Dante’s The Divine Comedy. The images of Peggy Burke and Kayla Zimmer are also on view. The exhibition is up through May and was supported by The Journey Project.

Pierce’s sketchbooks will also be on view at The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., through July 15, along with several other artists from U.S., Spain and Argentina. The exhibition was selected by Krystyna Wasserman, the NMWA Curator of Book Arts.

Assistant professors Br. Basil Valente, O.F.M., and Dr. Pauline Hoffmann recently received notice that their paper, “An Empirical Examination of Key Factors Influencing Development of University Strategic Marketing Communications Initiatives,” was accepted for publication and presentation by the American Marketing Association. Valente and Hoffmann will present their paper at the 2007 American Marketing Association Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in November. The following graduate and undergraduate students assisted in the research for this project: Heidi Ofinowicz, Hallie Steube and Jonathan TerMeer.

Dr. Kimberly Young, professor of management sciences, had the article “Online Affairs: Evaluation and Treatment Implications” published in the Journal of Couples and Relationship Therapy. The article examines the growing trend in divorce cases resulting from online affairs and utilizing 130 case studies, outlines a model for clinical intervention for treatment professionals working with this emergent client population. She also presented the paper “Controlling Internet Abuse in the Workplace” at the Business Consortium of Western New York hosted by St. Bonaventure University on April 21.

Romanello’s South Restaurant was the site of the annual Counselor Education Cohort annual reception, held on April 20 for some 100 people. Each year, the reception, organized by Dr. Barbara Trolley, has a threefold purpose: to honor site supervisors who have dedicated their time and efforts into mentoring the Counselor Education Graduate Practicum and Internship students; to provide an opportunity for alumni, students, faculty, and staff to socialize and network; and to provide continuing education opportunities for all in attendance.

The theme of the this year’s reception was “Violence Prevention Training: Proactive Strategies to Stay Safe in Schools and Within Families.” Presenters included Amy Klimowicz, Erie County Sheriff's Department domestic violence responder and social worker, and Dr. Thomas Delaney, SBU professor of counselor education and member of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Department Special Response Team. Klimowicz gave a presentation on domestic violence, citing staggering statistics and speaking about her role with the Sheriff's Department. Delaney address dealing with potentially violent crisis situations.

Honored for their work were Kevin Brayer, director of the Buffalo Center, and Craig Zuckerman, chair of the Counselor Education program.

All current supervisors were presented with a comprehensive binder of practical professional resources, collated by the Counselor Education students. The team, led by Janell Rosatti, included: Kara Luce, Jim Cooper, Sarah Skelton, Michelle Stebbins, Kristen Raab, Lynn Milligan (Cohort 12); Shannon Hacker (Cohort 13), Cindy Sullivan, & Tracey Raab (Cohort Alumni), and Tricia Winniki (ACS).

St. Bonaventure University’s chapter of Students in Free Enterprise just missed placing in the top 20 this week at the 2007 SIFE National Exposition in Dallas. But SIFE co-president Claire Collins, a senior from Corning, was hardly disappointed.

“All that matters is the lives we have touched, and the fact that we have made a difference and an impact on someone’s life,” said Collins. “I’m sure if you asked any of those students in the Bahamas or at home who we have worked with they’d give us first place at the World Cup.”

St. Bonaventure’s presentation covered the various projects and activities the organization did during the school year, including the group’s Bahamas service and entrepreneurial trip in January; local area projects, such as teaching computer skills to children and adults; and working the St. Bonaventure Shootout (women’s basketball tournament) held in Corning.

At nationals, the winners in each of the 20 leagues on May 7 advanced to the semifinal round of presentations on May 8. St. Bonaventure placed second to Southwest Minnesota State in League 5. The finish placed St. Bonaventure in the top 40 nationally, in the top 5 percent out of 840 colleges and universities that have SIFE chapters.

“I am extremely proud of our team,” said SIFE adviser Dr. Todd Palmer, associate professor of management sciences. “These students put their hearts and souls into our projects. We can’t wait until next year.”

The SBU team qualified for nationals for the fourth straight year by winning its regional division March 26 in Brooklyn. The presentation team in Dallas included Collins, senior education major; Diana Keller, junior marketing major of Hilton, N.Y.; Sara McCue, senior finance and accounting major of Newark, N.Y.; Brendan Keating, junior marketing and management major of Buffalo, N.Y.; Andrew Mantilia, junior business information systems major of New Canaan, Conn.; Lindsay Pohlman, sophomore journalism and mass communication major from Orchard Park, N.Y.; and Rachel Siepierski, junior journalism and mass communication major from Williamsville, N.Y.

“I’m delighted to know they did so well,” said Br. F. Edward Coughlin, O.F.M., vice president for Franciscan Mission. “All of Bona’s knows what a difference they have made in one small corner of the world, and in lots of other places along the way.”