Sep 27, 2013 |
By Samantha Berkhead, ’14
St. Bonaventure University will celebrate the Feast of St. Francis by hosting a week of Francis-inspired events beginning Tuesday, Oct. 1.
Dr. Paul Barretta, assistant professor of marketing, will kick off the week’s events at 3 p.m. Tuesday with a talk geared toward MBA students, titled “Being Your True Self at Work,” in the board room of the William E. and Ann L. Swan Business Center. At 5:30 p.m., the Franciscan Center for Social Concern will present “Syria: A Franciscan Response” in the Thomas Merton Center.
At 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, Darlene McDonough, associate professor of education, and Dr. Greg Gibbs, director of the Educational Leadership Program, will host a faculty conversation on educational leadership in the Doyle Trustees Room.
Dr. Pauline Albert of Austin, Texas will present this year’s Fr. Jerome Kelly Lecture, “Making Better Social Worlds Today Through Learning from Francis and Clare of Assisi,” at 4:30 p.m. in the University Chapel.
Dr. Albert, previously an administrator and professor at St. Edward’s University in Austin, now conducts research that focuses on what the lives of Francis and Clare can teach us about leading in the 21st century. As the Master Teacher-In-Residence of this year’s Francis Week, Dr. Albert will share her findings and conduct dialogues with the campus community on putting these tenets of leadership into action today in order to create a better world.
Br. F. Edward Coughlin, O.F.M., vice president for the Franciscan Mission, said Dr. Albert’s presence on campus will help the St. Bonaventure community better understand Francis’ impact on the modern world.
“Dr. Albert was an accomplished woman with rich experience in the business world before she began to study the life and vision of Francis and Clare, a vision which brings a very important but unique perspective to her work and her understanding of leadership,” he said. “Her lecture with the MBA class on global markets will be very interesting. (She plans to present) a Coca-Cola case study that examines how Coke changes its business and marketing strategy to better serve not only its own interests, but the interests of people where its products are produced and their impact on local environments.”
From 9:45 to 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, cookies and coffee will be offered to students in front of Plassmann Hall to recognize Lady Jacoba, a supporter of St. Francis during his lifetime. At 11:30, a faculty-staff forum, “Is a Franciscan University Education Under Threat in America?,” will take place in the University Club above Hickey Dining Hall.
At 7 p.m., a Transitus service at the University Chapel will mark the passing of St. Francis to eternal life.
Francis Week will culminate in the Feast of St. Francis and celebration of the Eucharist on Friday, Oct. 4, at noon in the University Chapel.
Fr. Francis Di Spigno, O.F.M., director of University Ministries, said the yearly observation of Francis Week is a campuswide expression of what Francis’ faith means in the present day.
“St. Francis experienced God through and in his relationships with the people in his life, from his closest brothers and sisters in Assisi to the Sultan Malik al-Kamil whom he met after crossing the battlefields of Damietta, Egypt. St. Francis' encounter with God propelled him to go and serve those people in most need that he met along his journey,” he said. “Our celebrations … are different and varied ways of expressing the wonderful and dynamic person that was Francis of Assisi and what he means to us today.”
Francis Week activities are sponsored by a generous gift from John, ’58, and Kay Meisch of Canandaigua.
______________
About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. We are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition. Our students are becoming extraordinary.