HEOP program News, Publications & Research | St. Bonaventure University

Hope and opportunity bring student speaker to Commencement podium

May 12, 2025 | Hope — and a door to opportunity held open — brought Anas Alami to St. Bonaventure University four years ago. Today, this once-shy Brooklyn native who navigated the foster care system has been selected as the student speaker for SBU’s 165th Commencement Exercises on May 18.

Essays by SBU's Phillips to be published; memoir to return in hardcover

May 01, 2025 | Essays by Mark Phillips, retired teacher and tutor with the SBU Higher Education Opportunity Program, are forthcoming in the May-June issue of Adirondack Life, summer's American Scholar literary magazine, and the autumn issue of Notre Dame Magazine.

State Assembly internship leads to full-time job for St. Bonaventure’s Percy Arthur

May 07, 2024 | Percy Arthur didn’t have a clue who Carl Heastie was, even though the Speaker of the New York State Assembly lived only seven blocks from his home in the Bronx.

Essay by Phillips republished on Notre Dame Magazine website

Feb 09, 2024 | Notre Dame Magazine has republished an essay by Mark Phillips, retired tutor and teacher with the St. Bonaventure Higher Education Opportunity Program.

Essay by Phillips appears in Notre Dame Magazine

Oct 20, 2023 | An essay by Mark Phillips, retired tutor and teacher with the St. Bonaventure Higher Education Opportunity Program, appears in the current print and online editions of Notre Dame Magazine.

Essay by Phillips posted on website of Adirondack Life

Oct 05, 2023 | A short essay by Mark Phillips, retired tutor and teacher with the St. Bonaventure Higher Education Opportunity Program, has been posted on the website of the regional magazine Adirondack Life.

Essays by Phillips accepted for publication in three journals

Sep 07, 2023 | Mark Phillips, retired tutor with the St. Bonaventure Higher Education Opportunity Program, has had essays accepted for publication in three journals.

Buttafarro and Smith present at NYSACAC Conference

Sep 07, 2023 | Tom Buttafarro, director of government & community relations, and Cindy Smith, director of the Higher Education Opportunity Program, presented at the statewide conference of the New York State Association of College Admissions Counselors (NYSACAC), hosted by St. Bonaventure in May.

Essay by Phillips published in April editions of Commonweal

Apr 21, 2023 | An essay by Mark Phillips, retired tutor and teacher with the St. Bonaventure Higher Education Opportunity Program, appears in the print and online editions of the April Commonweal.

Essay by Phillips published in Notre Dame Magazine editions

Jan 26, 2023 | An essay by Mark Phillips, retired teacher and tutor with St. Bonaventure's Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program, has been published in the winter 2022-23 print and online editions of Notre Dame Magazine.

Phillips published in online edition of Notre Dame Magazine

Oct 21, 2022 | An online edition of Notre Dame Magazine has published a review by Mark Phillips, retired teacher and tutor with the St. Bonaventure Higher Education Opportunity Program.

St. Bonaventure HEOP students recognized at Honors and Awards Ceremony

Oct 04, 2021 | The Arthur O. Eve Higher Education program celebrated the academic and personal accomplishments of the university’s HEOP students during an Honors and Awards Ceremony Sept. 28.

DEI Commission to host webinar April 29 on creating a culture of belonging at Bona’s

Apr 23, 2021 | Christopher “CJ” Gross will discuss the power of creating a culture of belonging at St. Bonaventure when the President’s Commission on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) hosts a webinar at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 29.

Fofana, Quezada honored by HEOP for their accomplishments at St. Bonaventure

Apr 12, 2021 | The Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program at St. Bonaventure University announced the winners of two annual awards today. Aminata Fofana, a senior political science major, won the Margaret T. Bryner HEOP Scholarship. Rafael Quezada, a senior strategic communication major, received the Alexis Reyes Franciscan Spirit Award.

Senior Priscilla Contreras finds her place at Bona’s

Sep 11, 2020 | “It was destiny.” That’s how Priscilla Contreras describes becoming a student at St. Bonaventure University.

St. Bonaventure receives five-year grant from state to continue summer program for HEOP students

Jul 02, 2019 | St. Bonaventure University has been awarded another five-year Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP) grant from the New York State Education Department.